Hermès Chain Anchor is an iconic element from the House’s repertoire/list – a signature that can be found sometimes in silver, sometimes in bracelets, rings and even watches…
Anchor Chain Hermes 2022 : Refinement Jewellery
If the anchor chain hermès is today a classic that we can find on several jewelry models, clothes and the table service signed by the saddler… We have to go back to the 1940s to understand the anecdote and its introduction into the heart of this repertoire.
At the dawn of the 1940s, the Hermès saddlery firm had long been known and recognised as the epitome of chic and refinement, particularly in the field of sports equipment and travel.
Largely inspired by the equestrian world, Hermès pieces were not yet what we know today. But in 1937, Robert Dumas, son-in-law of the founder’s son Thierry Hermès, brought the saddlery into the modern world.
The Creation Of The Anchor chain Signature
It was during a trip to the Normandy coast that everything began. As we know, Hermès likes to reproduce in its lines the purity and elegance of elements that are often underestimated.
When Robert Dumas spotted the uniqueness and entanglement of the links in the chain connecting a boat to its anchor, he suspected the impact of such inspiration on Hermès designs.
The idea for the mythical Silver Anchor Chain Bracelet did indeed come from this entanglement, as chic as it is complex.
But if he wanted to turn this idea into a silver jewellery piece, no jeweller at the time was willing to work on it. No one was willing to follow him.
Robert Dumas insisted that his bracelet be made of silver… At a time when only gold and platinum were used, casting a Hermès jewel in silver was out of place!
In the end, it was a certain Mr De Perçin who agreed to work with this metal, which was a bit folkloric for its time…
The Icon Silver Anchor Chain, A Hermès Signature
So in 1938, the Anchor Chain bracelet was born. In silver!
A jewel with a natural balance, with a look that is so chic and easy… The Chaîne d’Ancre soon became the jewel to own.
And like many of its icons, Hermès likes to make them reappear where they are not expected. The Anchor Chain has thus become a key graphic element – it appears on many models, having itself become the model that inspires the Anchor creations!
Here and there, from the lines of porcelain plates to the Nantucket watch… Printed on silk squares… Serving as a cut-out model for sandals… This play of shapes and volumes embellishes and magnifies a number of objects signed Hermès. Moreover, the anchor chain design was registered in 1970 and is a signature belonging to Hermès alone!
In 2011, Henri d’Origny used the Chaîne d’Ancre links to design the much sought-after Hermès Cape Cod model.
The same year, Pierre Hardy was inspired by the clasp of the Chaîne d’Ancre bracelet to design the model of suspended earrings… Made of gold, silver and paved with diamonds… Pierre Hardy is even working on a whole collection of high jewellery around the Chaîne d’Ancre and its links – for him, it is “a permanent creative anchor point”. Among these pieces, this bag made of a total of 1,160 diamonds, or 33.94 carats.
Yes, the design is both versatile and ultimately refined. So much so that the Anchor Chain is more current than ever. Seen on a men’s jacket from the Hermès Spring/Summer 2022 collection… Or featured for Spring/Summer 2020, around a punk-inspired Chaîne d’Ancre necklace… The signature embodies the poetic and facetious spirit of Hermès!
A signature of the house available here in silver jewellery, from 990 eur.