Hermès / Cape Cod
Hermès Cape Cod
Collection profile · 1991
Cape Cod is Hermès’ square-in-rectangle watch family born from Henri d’Origny’s 1991 sketch; its free-spirited profile and later double-tour leather strap made it one of the maison’s most recognizable fashion-watch icons.
Why it matters
Cape Cod is one of Hermès’ clearest crossover successes: a watch that reads as design object, style accessory, and core brand signature at the same time.
Key references
Collection timeline
- 1991 — Henri d’Origny sketches the Cape Cod watch as a square silhouette inside a rectangle.
- 1998 — The double-tour strap becomes Cape Cod’s defining visual feature.
- 2024 — Hermès continues to sell multiple Cape Cod sizes and strap executions.
More from Hermès
- Arceau — Arceau is Hermès’ round watch line with Henri d’Origny’s asymmetric stirrup-like lugs, first created in 1978; it spans clean quartz pieces and more elaborate métiers d’art or manufacture models while staying recognizably equestrian and understated.
- Heure H — Heure H is Hermès’ architectural watch line that turns the house initial into a case shape, designed by Philippe Mouquet in 1996; it has become a broad family ranging from compact quartz pieces to more elaborate diamond and automatic executions.
- Slim d'Hermès — Ultra-thin collection featuring a bespoke typographic numeral font by Philippe Apeloig, housing Hermès' own thin automatic movements.