Who needs Apple AirPods when you can listen to Taylor Swift on vinyl? Hermès’ Horizon project created a reimagined jukebox with Bauhaus detailing and a Murano glass stand

Dec 27 , 2020

The Hermès Horizon project’s specialist team of designers, engineers and master craftsmen have reimagined the classic 1950s jukebox. Photo: Handout

If you’ve already got a Himalaya Birkin and have at least US$258,000 to spend, what about asking the French luxury brand’s bespoke division to make you one of these – the leatherwork alone takes 100 hours

To many, the Birkin bag is the epitome of luxury, but Hermès has a dedicated Horizon department for the custom creation of ultra-luxurious objects. That now includes a US$258,000 funky jukebox – perhaps for the loyal customer who already has one too many Himalayans.

“All dreams allowed” is the claim made by Hermès here. With multiple métiers – or specialities – under the Hermès banner, including ready-to-wear, saddle-making, fragrance and cosmetics, there is no stone left unturned when it comes to the house’s creative capacity.

In this case, Horizon’s specialist team of designers, engineers and master craftsmen reimagined the classic 1950s jukebox. The appropriately round body stands 1.5 metres tall on a Murano glass stand with a funky Bauhaus-style back splash – full of right angles and colour-blocked geometric shapes – marking out the turntable’s cubby.

The jukebox comes in two colourways: a deep burgundy leather juxtaposed with canary yellow for mid-century sophistication, and a royal navy blue which sets the stage for the iconic Hermès orange.

The swift and calfskin leathers, with which Hermès is historically adept, seamlessly wrap the whole, covering the six speakers and the jukebox’s 10 vinyl 33rpm long players. The leatherwork goes beyond simply overlaying the object with a leather skin though. For one, leather is more than a material to Hermès. Whether at the workshop at 24 Faubourg Saint Honore in Paris, or the one out at Pantin on the edge of the city, leather is thought of as a language, translated in a multitude of ways. After deciding on the perfect hue, grain and even scent, the leather is split into the required thickness, then glued, polished, sewn and underlined by expert craftsmen. For this jukebox project, the “leather linguistics” took an estimated 100 hours.

And what of the music? Well, as they say, everything sounds better on vinyl – and the theatrical twist and shake of the mechanical aluminium arm when it reaches for your next LP is entertaining in its own right.

But the jukebox boasts Bluetooth connectivity, too, just in case you haven’t got Taylor Swift’s latest album on LP.