Hermès Unveils the H08 Blanc & Bleu de Malte

Hermès has given the fiberglass H08 a new—lighter—mood. Two new versions, the H08 Blanc and the H08 Bleu de Malte, pair its braided glass-fiber case with a white or Maltese-blue ceramic bezel and a white lacquered dial.

Since the H08 arrived in 2021, the fiberglass version has been the stealthy one, with a black ceramic bezel, a concrete-gray dial, and only a flash of color on the strap. Now Hermès has turned the lights on.

That shift tells you how Hermès treats the H08. This is the house’s sporty, everyday line, and it has always been happy to change its clothes, from fresh titanium expressions to La Matière in rose gold. In the house’s own words, the H08 “has embodied the diversity of the Hermès men’s collection” since its debut, a watch “resolutely in tune with the times, designed for everyday wear and striking a subtle balance between tension and fluidity, robustness and lightness.”

This season, lightness is the word that really counts. The black fiberglass H08 absorbed light; the Blanc and Bleu de Malte are designed to give it back. They manage it while keeping the technical, almost industrial character that made the composite version so distinctive to begin with.

Introducing the H08 Blanc and Bleu de Malte

Both watches keep the case that defines the fiberglass H08: a composite of braided glass fibers with an aluminum-coated surface, which gives it a marbled, matte, almost mineral texture. Around the dial sits a sunburst satin-brushed ceramic bezel, in white or in bleu de Malte, finished with mirror-polished chamfers. The press materials call the effect “a strikingly luminous presence,” and the contrast is the point—a textured case that drinks in light, set against a smooth ceramic ring that catches it.

The Blanc is the purist of the pair. Monochrome and pared-down, it runs white from bezel to dial to strap and leaves nearly all the visual interest to the composite case. That turns out to be more than plenty. Every fiberglass case carries its own weave pattern, so no two watches are identical, and in white the texture reads far more clearly than it ever did in black. On the darker models, you noticed the marbling up close. Here, it’s the very first thing you see from across the table.

The Bleu de Malte is the more graphic of the two. Hermès describes it as “distinguished by graphic precision accentuating the technical nature of the materials,” and the blue does exactly that, framing the white dial and pulling the eye to the geometry of the case. It comes on a Maltese blue rubber strap; the Blanc wears white rubber.

The materials earn their place here, too, and not only for the look. The composite keeps the case featherweight, which matters on a watch meant for every day, and the ceramic sits on the bezel—the part of any watch that takes the most knocks—where its scratch resistance does the most good. It’s a sensible division of labor, and exactly the kind of thinking that separates a sports watch you actually wear from one that only looks the part.

The rest is unmistakably H08. The 39mm case hovers between round and square with gently softened edges, which Hermès frames as the tension-meets-fluidity idea the collection was built on. On the white lacquered dial, the H08’s distinctive Arabic numerals return as ruthenium-treated appliques, with Super-LumiNova on both the numerals and the hands. The watch stays legible long after the light it was designed to catch has gone.

The H1837 Inside

Turn either watch over and the movement is the house’s own. The Manufacture Hermès H1837 is a self-winding caliber made in Switzerland, measuring 26mm in diameter and 3.7mm thick. It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, delivers a 50-hour power reserve, and displays the hours, minutes, and seconds, plus a date between 4 and 5 o’clock—slightly off-axis, which suits the H08’s playful geometry. Water resistance is rated to 10 bar, more than enough for the everyday wear this watch was designed around.

None of that is new to the collection, and that’s part of the appeal. Hermès hasn’t reengineered the H08 so much as recast it, keeping a proven case, movement, and dial architecture and changing only how they meet the light. The same composite that looked stealthy and serious in black now looks fresh, almost summery, with all of its texture intact.

It fits the way Hermès likes to talk about watchmaking in general. “For Hermès, time is also an object,” the house explains in its press materials. “Rather than measuring, ordering, and seeking to control it, Hermès dares to explore another time, designed to arouse emotions, open up interludes and create spaces for spontaneity and recreation.” The company that recently unveiled its “Mysterious Mechanisms” at Watches and Wonders 2026 plainly sees no contradiction at all in bringing that spirit to a fiberglass sports watch on a rubber strap.

Choosing between the two comes down to temperament. In our view, the Blanc is the more interesting design statement, because it does the most with the least: by removing color almost entirely, it lets the one-of-a-kind weave of the case do the talking, and the result feels closer to an object than an accessory, which is a very Hermès place to land. The Bleu de Malte is the easier wear and the more versatile of the two, with just enough color to anchor it against denim, tailoring, or a beach towel.

Both versions are priced at $8,600, and both make the same case: the H08 never needed to be dark to be serious. It just needed the right material to catch the light.

Timely FAQs

Adrienne Faurote

Editor in Chief · Haute Time

As a former New Yorker, now a “Miamian,” Adrienne Faurote joined Haute Living in August of 2021. She currently serves as the Haute Media Group Editor-in-Chief, overseeing all editorial platforms within the Haute Media Group while also maintaining her role as Fashion, Jewelry & Watch Director. Prior to her position at Haute Living, Faurote was the Market Editor at Marie Claire Magazine US, amassing over ten years in the industry, becoming an authoritative voice in all things fashion, jewelry, and watches.