The Arceau Le Temps suspendu model by Hermès was officially named Watch of the Year 2011 at a ceremony held in Geneva.  Luc Perramond, CEO of La Montre Hermès , was awarded the prize before an audience of more than 500 movers and shakers from the watchmaking world.
The Jury chose to distinguish the Arceau Le Temps suspendu watch for its "undeniable poetry", "its creative audacity" and "its ingenious mechanism". 
Luc Perramond presented the watch that now amazes the watchmaking world at Baselworld this year.

The watch can stop time with a simple push of a button. „The watch looks simple when you look at it, but it has the ability to stop, to suspend time. Because this is the Hermès world – an universe where one can dream, a time philosophy where one can focus on the quality of moments. It’s a paradox for a watchmaker who always dreams of measuring time, but we want to make our buyers dream and bring them in the Hermès time, where they can forget about the pressure of time.”
The time suspendu effect is the result of a three year project and Hermès worked with Agenhor Geneva laboratory, whose founder, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht is specialized in the retrograde complications and created one of the most imaginative mechanisms on the market – the famous Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Complications or MB&F HM2.
The Arceau Le Temps suspendu watch conceals time and erases it from the dial whilst continuing to register its ceaseless march.  This new horological complication developed exclusively for Hermès is a world first. Behind a simple and playful gesture lies a sophisticated mechanism capable of making the user forget time via a subtle play of cams, pinions and segments.  The mechanics behind the illusion are created by an additional module enabling automatic and spontaneous alternation between suspended time and standard time.
Protected by two patents – one for its construction and the other for the play-reducing gear teeth – this gem of horological engineering alone comprises 24 jewels and is equipped with three play-reducing wheels.  The running time and suspended time phases are coordinated by two synchronized column wheels, one driving the hours, and the other the minutes couple with the date.  The 360° retrograde hour and minute mechanisms make time disappear without interrupting the relentless running of the movement, which can then be simply made to reappear at the press on its pushpiece.
The jury composed of watchmaking professionals pre-selected the best new models commercialized this year, based on a process comprising several phases and according to a set of pre-defined technical and aesthetic criteria – before proceeding to designate the winner by secret ballot.
Since 1994, the Watch of the Year Prize has pursued its aim of promoting the finest horological creations.  It was created by the trade magazine Montres Passion , ambassador of high-quality Swiss watchmaking and entirely dedicated to fostering the development of watchmaking culture.