Hercules Tantalum – Matt

On 3 July 1953, Austrian alpinist Hermann Buhl became the first person to stand on the summit of Nanga Parbat (8,126 m) — alone, without supplemental oxygen, and with a Hercules watch on his wrist. The brand founded by Henzi & Pfaff, which equipped that legendary expedition, has been revived in Saint-Prex, Switzerland with a single purpose: luxury Alpinism, built on the original 1953 design.

Choose from five dials drawn from the natural colours of ice: Snow White, with the granular snow-surface texture of Nanga Parbat’s permanent snows; Ice Blue, the serene turquoise of centuries-old glacial ice; Ice Pink, after the rose icebergs tinted by blooms of red algae; and Ice Green, a nod to the emerald algal blooms of polar waters — or the black satin dial, which pairs the dark lustre of the tantalum case with polished indices. Applied polished-steel indices and hands, filled with Swiss BGW9 Super-LumiNova, keep the original 1953 explorer’s face.

Ice dials shown on the stainless-steel case for reference — the tantalum case wears a darker, blue-grey tone as pictured in the case photograph.

Inside is the Hercules hand-wound calibre, developed with a manufacture in the Vallée de Joux: two barrels deliver a five-day (120-hour) power reserve at 28,800 vph, with 26 jewels and chronometer certification by Timelab (ISO 3159). Through the sapphire case back, the height lines of Nanga Parbat are engraved across the bridges and filled with BGW9 Super-LumiNova that glows glacier-blue in the dark.

Here the 40 mm case is machined from tantalum — a rare, dense, hypoallergenic metal with a deep blue-grey lustre that is notoriously difficult to work, finished matt and sandblasted with the flat surfaces polished. At 118 grams it has a presence on the wrist that no steel watch can match. Sapphire glass front and back, 100 m / 10 ATM water resistant, with a tantalum crown and buckle to complete the case.

Choose a black or cognac calf-suede strap on quick-release pins with a tantalum buckle, or have one made to your order — material, colour and size of your choice. Each tantalum Hercules arrives in the large wooden presentation box with Hermann Buhl’s book Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage, its individual chronometer certificate and a two-year international warranty.