Hermès, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Les Cristalleries de St. Louis create the Atmos Hermès clock
March 20, 2013: Bringing together their expertise and craft, Hermès, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Les Cristalleries de St. Louis have created the Atmos Hermès clock. What makes it extraordinary is that this 176-piece limited edition crystal clock quite literally lives on air!
The astonishing crystal sphere houses an almost perpetually moving mechanism developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre. The mechanism of the Atmos clock fascinates by its exceptional mode of operation with no battery, no electric current and no winding. It lives on air through an ingenious principle: a hermetically sealed capsule containing a mixture of gases that expands when the temperature rises and contracts when it drops.
Connected to the mainspring of the clock, the capsule acts like a pair of bellows, thereby constantly winding the mechanism. Even a one-degree temperature difference is enough to power it for 48 hours. Its balance oscillates just twice a minute rather than the average 300 times of a classic wristwatch, which consumes 250 times more energy than an Atmos clock. The 190 parts that compose this clever construction are precision-assembled within the Manufacture.
Hermès then entrusted Les Cristalleries de Saint-Louis glassmakers with creating the astonishing exterior of this clock: a crystal globe made using the so-called doublé or double overlay technique, which consists in coating layers of glass over each other, including a coloured one. Within the company, only six master glassmakers have the mastery and experience required to perform this task. And within this glass palace the clock mechanism is fitted, thereby composing a rare object which represents the quintessence of the craftsmanship spirit.
