The Hermes faces are the most skeuomorphic that Apple offers since they replicate real world analogues of Hermes mechanical watches.
Clearly Apple held back watch face options for the Hermes deal which was made before the Watch was even introduced. Which is a shame that the rest of us can't have that kind customization without the Hermes premium. But a digital Hermes face on a Hermes branded Watch doesn't make it Hermes, any more than putting that face on any other watch in Apple's collection. I can see where Hermes wouldn't want to sell their faces in the Apple Store, but your particular interest in analogue watch faces definitely raises questions about where Apple may be headed with this, and whether any other brands will even be interested in offering trademark watch faces for Apple's watch without similar co-branding deals.
I'm no design expert but that word gets tossed around a lot and I guess an analog face is always going to fit the definition. But the Apple analog faces all seem rather 2-dimensional to me. No silly drop shadows or other 3-d effects. Except Mickey of course. Give me the skeuomorphic sweep second hand any day. It is smoother than any mechanical watch (as they just give the illusion of not tickiing; they actually tick many times per second). Seiko's Spring Drive
is continuous, and many thousands of dollars.
By the way the hands on
every Apple analog face, except Mickey's once again, were previously used by, if not designed by Hermès. You'll notice the hands of the Hermès and the Apple Chronograph face are identical, and the others are just solid instead of hollow. The hands on the Hermès Cape Cod watch:
I've read that the collaboration began before the Apple Watch was even introduced. I found the following picture online after the Hermès was introduced. This is the Hermès Carre H watch, designed by French architect Marc Berthier in 2010. Remind you of anything? I found nothing linking the two, but it sure strikes me as rather uncanny.
I started threads on reddit and posted on Engadget ranting about the Hermès face when it came out. I've mentioned it here in earlier posts too I think. But Apple succeeded in up-selling me. Not because of the Hermès name, not because of a nice delicate handmade strap, but because I just wanted a simple clean analog face that uses the entire display. It's pretty to look at imo. It's still a smart watch, too bright and embarrassing sometimes (I sent feedback asking for a hardware button Theater Mode like Android Wear), but I like it. I've spent more on used Swiss watches.
I know it's still an Apple Watch and I'm glad it is. I bought my first used Apple Mac in 1990 and I'm typing on one now. I'm glad they exist; they make cool stuff. I still might throw it all away and start a modern Luddite movement and move to Montana (I happen to be there now).
Hermès was the perfect collaboration in a way because although they do make watches, they are not highly regarded in the mechanical watch world. I guess their name carries a lot of weight in the fashion world though. And they were a perfect match for the strap (although I haven't removed my JETech bracelet yet).
I won't speculate about future collaborations. I have no idea and don't really care. I can't see watchmakers like Rolex or Omega doing it. I would think they would rather struggle on, even go down with the ship first, if that is in the cards.
I'll end this with a thought that just occurred to me. The first automobiles were called horseless carriages. But that didn't last too long. They quickly took on a name and a life of their own.
