Luxury defined

Frederic Libaud introduces Hermes' signature scarf-painting process.

Celine Rochereau, a 40-year-old leather artisan who has been with Hermes for 22 years hand stitches a maroon Kelly handle, with two needles and one piece of thread.

She says that it takes about 18 to 20 hours to make a bag. Just one artisan does all the work from beginning to end. If this was not the case then the results could result in a discrepancy of less than 1 millimeter on the handle, an important factor for a bag that "is to be passed on for generations".

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Rochereau, who studied at a leather school for two years, says she has lost count of the number of Kellys, Birkins and Masai bags she has made.

"The most difficult part is the handle, requiring not only the use of the hand, wrist and arm, but the whole body," says Rochereau, wearing a brown leather apron. "This single part involves hours of stitching" and cannot be done by machine.

Each bag, made from dozens of pieces of leather, is sold for thousands of dollars.

Another highlight of the exhibition is "silk engrave" and the process takes up to 600 hours before a Hermes signature silk scarf is formed.

As every Hermes silk scarf boasts about 30 to 45 colors, the artisan, in a long white robe, has to paint the scarf through a special screen one color after another, with the same care and attention to detail that the stitching involves.

It takes from one hour to a month for the colors to dry before another color can be applied.

The exhibition also features watch making, silk tie production and gem setting.

Each of these crafts defines the word Hermes "luxury", says Leo Lui, chief executive of Hermes China.

Contact the writer at xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn.