Any books about Hermes?

[HoneyLocks]

I know there is a thread somewhere on books about Hermes, sorry Mods, I just can't find it so maybe you can move this please
There is a new and up to date directory on every scarf design by Hermes published in French and English published in Oct 2020. The same publisher does a bag reference book to.

CARRES D'AR IV • ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF CARRES HERMES | Arfon Maison d'Edition

Carrés d'art IV draws up an inventory of the Squares created by Hermès from 1937 until 2020. For each Square, the reader will find under the photograph of the Square, the name of the model, the name of the designer, the dates of creation and reissue , and a schematic value relating to the rarity...

en.arfon-maisondedition.com

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Thank you for the notice. I wonder if there will be as many blanks as in the other books.
BTW: yo may want to crop out the email adress on the screen shots.

 

[lanit]

Thank you for the notice. I wonder if there will be as many blanks as in the other books.
BTW: yo may want to crop out the email adress on the screen shots.

Not sure I understand your comment about blanks? Can you please clarify?

 

[HeatherZE]

Ordered mine. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[HoneyLocks]

Not sure I understand your comment about blanks? Can you please clarify?

this: empty squares instead of a picture of the scarf:

 

[Madoka5]

About what percentage are blanks in the book?

 

[Redbirdhermes]

this: empty squares instead of a picture of the scarf:
View attachment 4907860View attachment 4907861

I got my Carres d'art IV yesterday. I don't see blanks in it, but it does appear to be missing my latest purchase, The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf. At least, I haven't found that scarf yet. There is a rarity/interest rating below the scarf photo, which is a curiosity for me, but since rarity/interest can vary so much by colorway and original vs. reissue, that I'm not sure how much it can be relied upon.

In any case, this is my new favorite book.

 

[Holsby]

I got my Carres d'art IV yesterday. I don't see blanks in it, but it does appear to be missing my latest purchase, The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf. At least, I haven't found that scarf yet. There is a rarity/interest rating below the scarf photo, which is a curiosity for me, but since rarity/interest can vary so much by colorway and original vs. reissue, that I'm not sure how much it can be relied upon.

In any case, this is my new favorite book.

I haven't got Carré d'Art IV, but in Carré d'Art III I found your scarf under letter R and the name
Royal and ancient game of golf (the) Jeu de golf ancien et royale.
Hope you will find it!

 

[Redbirdhermes]

I haven't got Carré d'Art IV, but in Carré d'Art III I found your scarf under letter R and the name
Royal and ancient game of golf (the) Jeu de golf ancien et royale.
Hope you will find it!

Thank you. I found it. It's under J, with the name in French, although it is printed in English on the scarf itself. Go figure. Many thanks to agirlapurseandascarf on IG.

 

[turfnsurf]

this: empty squares instead of a picture of the scarf:
View attachment 4907860View attachment 4907861

Cd’A IV leaves out the blanks this edition and lists those entries without images on the last page (with an invitation to anyone having an example to share photos for future reference).

 

[turfnsurf]

I just received & perused Cd’A lV and am surprised to be more than a bit disappointed

Re:Trilogy concept..
Limited Editions & Special Issues are now under separate cover(s)? Where?!
(I’d rather those images be the smaller size of Cd’A lll & included in one volume for a higher cover price.)

Re:Revised rating system...
I understand that the new sole rating given to each design is supposed to be for original issue including reissues (if any). Cd’A lll rated original issues & reissues separately; often with original issue being understandably more rare. The new combined rating is less helpful to vintage collectors and honestly just seems lazy.

Re: many Rarity reclassifications...
Having owned Cd’A ll & lll I’m surprised to see such numerous rarity reclassifications from lll to lV. I fully expect Interest levels to wildly fluctuate between editions, but not Rarity (especially vintage designs that have not been reissued).

This seems to be the only H scarf database available in print, and it bothers me that many collectors use as a guide yet it’s certainly not definitive and contradicts earlier editions in regards to rarity (clearly a sore spot for me).

I’m further flummoxed how many 2019 (and some 2018) first release designs are considered Rare. Some are still on H.com, so how on earth are they Rare?!!

I thought I’d replace Cd’A lll with lV, but having seen it, I’m afraid I have to keep lll on the shelf as my go-to resource.
Anyone else?

 

[Redbirdhermes]

In the coin collecting world, rarity is related to the number of coins of a particular design/date that were minted, and then how many of those that have survived. Do we know how many scarves of each design/colorway and reissue that were manufactured and sold? It’s entirely possible for a currently-for-sale scarf to be rare if very few were made in the first place. However, a scarf can also become rare if very few have survived, and therefore it is difficult to obtain. I do notice that older scarves seem to be the rarest in the Cd’A IV. Other than that, I’m not sure how their determinations were made. I don’t own the third volume, so this is the one that I will be referring to.

 

[Serva1]

I just received & perused Cd’A lV and am surprised to be more than a bit disappointed

Re:Trilogy concept..
Limited Editions & Special Issues are now under separate cover(s)? Where?!
(I’d rather those images be the smaller size of Cd’A lll & included in one volume for a higher cover price.)

Re:Revised rating system...
I understand that the new sole rating given to each design is supposed to be for original issue including reissues (if any). Cd’A lll rated original issues & reissues separately; often with original issue being understandably more rare. The new combined rating is less helpful to vintage collectors and honestly just seems lazy.

Re: many Rarity reclassifications...
Having owned Cd’A ll & lll I’m surprised to see such numerous rarity reclassifications from lll to lV. I fully expect Interest levels to wildly fluctuate between editions, but not Rarity (especially vintage designs that have not been reissued).

This seems to be the only H scarf database available in print, and it bothers me that many collectors use as a guide yet it’s certainly not definitive and contradicts earlier editions in regards to rarity (clearly a sore spot for me).

I’m further flummoxed how many 2019 (and some 2018) first release designs are considered Rare. Some are still on H.com, so how on earth are they Rare?!!

I thought I’d replace Cd’A lll with lV, but having seen it, I’m afraid I have to keep lll on the shelf as my go-to resource.
Anyone else?

Having Cd’A II and III, is IV worth buying? I enjoy looking at pics and love learning about scarves, trying to recognise designs when I see them.

 

[turfnsurf]

Having Cd’A II and III, is IV worth buying? I enjoy looking at pics and love learning about scarves, trying to recognise designs when I see them.

That’s a good question, Serva. The only benefit of IV for me is having the images of 2015+ releases in print to reference (vs. online sources).

The English Forward and subsequent 7pgs of info. is almost the same, but has been reformatted and the charming ‘Collectors’ part removed. IV is 238pgs vs. the 255pgs in III. Images are the same size- 9 per page max (I was mistaken that they were larger in my previous comment).

While I didn’t love the handful of blank images in III, I did appreciate the inclusion of them alphabetically; they now are relegated to a simple list in IV (w/ artist and issue date) and not included in the Glossary at all.
The new rating system* now considers previous ‘Exceptionals (R)’ now as simply Very Rare (previous 1); which is a demotion I expect solely to avoid confusion with H’s Exceptionals (embellished scarves) that aren’t even covered within the scope of IV (Classic Scarves).
IV designates some 2019 mass-produced machined designs as Very Rare in company with previous ‘R’ hand-screened, less prolific runs of early vintages; disappointing to say the least.
*I fear this major redesignation will cause more confusion among collectors, or simply result in those who have III to continue to use the established alpha numeric system; as I likely will. I honestly do not want to edit my entire spreadsheet and demote R scarves.

The removal of majority of the Special Edition info. III contains is a loss and, coupled with other things mentioned, compels me to keep III on my shelf as my primary reference source instead of rehoming it (at least until I figure out where the mysterious other two parts of the IV self-described “trilogy” are found).

I hope all this helps you to make your decision.

 

[Serva1]

That’s a good question, Serva. The only benefit of IV for me is having the images of 2015+ releases in print to reference (vs. online sources).

The English Forward and subsequent 7pgs of info. is almost the same, but has been reformatted and the charming ‘Collectors’ part removed. IV is 238pgs vs. the 255pgs in III. Images are the same size- 9 per page max (I was mistaken that they were larger in my previous comment).

While I didn’t love the handful of blank images in III, I did appreciate the inclusion of them alphabetically; they now are relegated to a simple list in IV (w/ artist and issue date) and not included in the Glossary at all.
The new rating system* now considers previous ‘Exceptionals (R)’ now as simply Very Rare (previous 1); which is a demotion I expect solely to avoid confusion with H’s Exceptionals (embellished scarves) that aren’t even covered within the scope of IV (Classic Scarves).
IV designates some 2019 mass-produced machined designs as Very Rare in company with previous ‘R’ hand-screened, less prolific runs of early vintages; disappointing to say the least.
*I fear this major redesignation will cause more confusion among collectors, or simply result in those who have III to continue to use the established alpha numeric system; as I likely will. I honestly do not want to edit my entire spreadsheet and demote R scarves.

The removal of majority of the Special Edition info. III contains is a loss and, coupled with other things mentioned, compels me to keep III on my shelf as my primary reference source instead of rehoming it (at least until I figure out where the mysterious other two parts of the IV self-described “trilogy” are found).

I hope all this helps you to make your decision.

Thank you turfnsurf for taking the time and effort to write such a comprehensive review I really appreciate your opinions. This is a very inexpensive catalogue and I remember travelling to Paris in order to get the previous III edition, because my local bookstore couldn’t order it and at the time I wasn’t so keen on online shopping. The concierge at my hotel took a cab and got the catalogue for me, because it wasn’t available at the Hermès bookstore at Sevres or at the bookstore at Rue Royale.

I cannot call myself a collector, but love H scarves, especially iconic older designs and ”grails”. I get pleasure in looking at these catalogues, whenever I see a scarf from 30s, 40s or 50s I immediately reach for my catalogue III, sometimes rechecking if the information is the same in edition II. Therefore I will buy the newest edition too. After all it’s such a small investment and will still give me a lot of pleasure. I will definitely continue to use the alpha numeric system too when it comes to grading and my III will probably see more action as well. It’s a familiar system and has been working well for me.

 

[turfnsurf]

Thank you turfnsurf for taking the time and effort to write such a comprehensive review I really appreciate your opinions. This is a very inexpensive catalogue and I remember travelling to Paris in order to get the previous III edition, because my local bookstore couldn’t order it and at the time I wasn’t so keen on online shopping. The concierge at my hotel took a cab and got the catalogue for me, because it wasn’t available at the Hermès bookstore at Sevres or at the bookstore at Rue Royale.

I cannot call myself a collector, but love H scarves, especially iconic older designs and ”grails”. I get pleasure in looking at these catalogues, whenever I see a scarf from 30s, 40s or 50s I immediately reach for my catalogue III, sometimes rechecking if the information is the same in edition II. Therefore I will buy the newest edition too. After all it’s such a small investment and will still give me a lot of pleasure. I will definitely continue to use the alpha numeric system too when it comes to grading and my III will probably see more action as well. It’s a familiar system and has been working well for me.

You’re very welcome I have great interest in H scarves (especially the vintage & equestrian designs) and am probably a bit overly enthusiastic. It’ll be interesting to hear feedback from others who have enjoyed previous volumes. I do agree with you that the images are such fun to peruse!

You have a great acquisition story for III! Much more interesting than paying electronically and waiting for a package in the mail.