apple watch hermès | the series 12 collection

Apple Watch Hermès.

Ten years ago, the Apple Watch was still trying to establish itself as something people might wear beyond the gym, while Hermès was synonymous with objects whose appeal came from handwork, materials and fine details. The two companies met in the middle and, a decade later, Apple Watch Hermès has become one of the technology world’s longest-running luxury collaborations. Its tenth anniversary marked a collection that pushed the relationship further into the territory of illustration, fashion accessories and watchmaking codes, with those ideas continuing into the current Series 12 generation.

First introduced in September 2015, the partnership paired Apple’s tech with Hermès leather bands in Single Tour, Double Tour and Cuff styles. From the beginning, the collaboration treated the strap as part of the identity of the watch, giving the technology a distinctly Hermès point of view without altering the underlying Apple hardware.

The anniversary collection marked a particularly playful chapter for Apple Watch Hermès. The current Apple Watch Hermès Series 12 is available in 42mm and 46mm titanium cases, with the latest generation introducing radiant gold titanium alongside the exclusive silver finish. The gold model comes with a Noir satin Clou de Selle band, complete with matching gold-finish hardware, while the collection also introduces Rocabar Club, a knitted band inspired by horse-jumping competitions through an elongated H motif rendered in a three-dimensional graphic pattern. The more practical Apple Watch Hermès Ultra has also moved on to Ultra 4, available in a 49mm natural titanium case with its own expanding range of Hermès bands.

Apple Watch Hermès.

Apple Watch Hermès.

The most celebratory addition from the anniversary collection was Faubourg Party, a jacquard-knit band created around an illustration of Hermès’ historic flagship store in Paris. Designed by artist Tibor Kárpáti, the pixel-like drawing translates 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré into a miniature architectural world of windows, terraces and rooftop gardens. The accompanying watch face takes the idea further, featuring 24 animations that change according to the time, weather or date. It gives the familiar interface a building that appears to come alive throughout the day, turning a recognisable physical location into a shifting digital canvas.

Grand H Fin takes the opposite route. Instead of adding more imagery, the bracelet pares the Grand H metal design back to slimmer, more slender proportions. Made from brushed stainless steel in Switzerland, the band features two understated H links framing the wrist, giving the device a jewellery-like presence while retaining classic Hermès watchmaking architecture. The design remains part of the current collection and is available with Series 12 in 42mm.

Animaux Bandana returns to one of the Maison’s most enduring forms of printed storytelling. A lively zoo of horses, toucans, monkeys, parrots and sloths from Shinsuke Kawahara’s eponymous silk scarf is screen-printed onto Swift calfskin. The design brings a casual bandana spirit to the wrist in several seasonal colour combinations, pairing seamlessly with the Double Tour Attelage format to add another layer of equestrian vocabulary to the collaboration.

Apple Watch Hermès.

For the sturdier Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 4, the mood changes completely. Scub’H Diving is made from high-performance fluoroelastomer rubber and features circular, porthole-like perforations, giving the strap a highly technical appearance suited to the larger case. Finished with a secure titanium buckle, the band is lightweight and water-resistant, while the Ultra 4 itself is rated for recreational scuba diving to 40 metres.

The current Ultra 4 range also includes the Grand H Titane band, which brings Hermès’ signature H motif into a titanium construction. Alongside Scub’H Diving, En Mer and other technical designs, it gives the Ultra a distinct vocabulary from the leather and metal straps associated with the smaller Series 12 cases.

The Series 12 collection also expands the partnership’s material vocabulary beyond the designs introduced for the tenth anniversary. Alongside leather, knitted nylon and rubber, Hermès now works with titanium in both cases and bracelets, with the new Grand H titanium band for Ultra 4 offering a different interpretation of the Maison’s signature H motif through a fully technical construction.

Apple Watch Hermès.

Apple Watch itself has also moved considerably since the original Hermès collaboration launched. Series 12 introduces Apple’s new Health Sensing System, with higher-frequency heart-rate and heart-rate variability measurements, alongside a new readiness feature and the S11 chip. Ultra 4 adds the same health-sensing architecture to a more adventure-focused format, alongside up to 50 hours of normal battery life and faster charging.

Over the years, the partnership has steadily accumulated references that sit somewhere between traditional watchmaking and the possibilities of a digital display, ranging from early leather straps and Hermès-inspired dials to Series 4’s colour-blocked designs, the anchor-chain references of Series 7 and the animated Faubourg Party dial.

The new Apple Watch Hermès collection is available to explore online. Discover the full lineup here.

photography. courtesy of Apple Watch Hermès
words. Gennaro Costanzo