The New Apple Watch Series 8 Receives The Hermès Treatment

Overnight Apple announced the launch of the new Apple Watch Series 8 as part of the new gadget offerings for this season. The forthcoming update will include the same beloved features including 18-hour all day battery life and retina display with new features like low power mode, ovulation tracking and watchOS9. With a partnership that spans back to 2015, luxury fashion house Hermès has announced a new offering of interactive watch faces and straps for a unique sartorial update on the new release.

Inspired by the House’s esteemed history with equestrian – the founder Thierry Hermès was gifted in leatherwork and produced saddlery for horses – the first release arrives in the form of a Lucky Horse watch face. Faithful to the brand heritage it features a cartoon horse, apple and horse shoe with the colours able to be changed depending on the wearer’s mood. At 10:10 the watch hands form a harness and during Always-On mode, the horse can be seen winking as the screen dims.

When it comes to the luxurious leather straps, there have been two new updates. First is the new double tour Gourmette band which combines leather with a metal chain inspired by equestrian curb link chains. The all-leather iteration is also available in the Noir colourway.

Next, is the H Diagonal strap. The H en biais motif was created in the 1970s and has been reinterpreted in the house’s collections many times. In this new series, it is subtly reproduced on a leather band via 1,300 individual and precise perforations. Crafted in Swift calfskin, it is available in Gold and Gris Meyer on the Silver stainless-steel case, and in Bleu de France and Cuivre on the Space Black case.

The launch is also accompanied by an updated leather case for the Apple Air Tag, a must-have for savvy travellers this season. Marrying function and design, symbols of a house, a bicycle, or a boat are printed on the key ring case in Swift calfskin.

Apple Watch Hermès Series 8 and Apple AirTag Hermès will be available for order online from 7 September 2022, and available for sale from 16 September 2022. Products will be available in selected stores in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States; and later this autumn in Korea, Mexico and Thailand.