Hermes - Festival of Crafts

I visited the Festival of Crafts exhibit next to the Hermes store on route 7 yesterday (it is being held in the old Gucci space.) There were a few areas set up with expert craftsmen at each station; saddle making, scarves, watches, ties, color selection etc. In an age where everything appears to be made by machine it was quite wonderful to see how much true quality and care goes into each and every piece that Hermes makes.
There was an actual demonstration of a scarf that had 8 colors in it. I watched Henry, a man who has been working at Hermes for over 30 years; change each screen after pouring the rich, saturated paint onto the heavy white silk, pushing the paint with a squeegee (I think that is what it is called) through the perforated pattern and leaving behind the design. Talk about watching paint dry – it was exciting!!
I was in awe from start to finish; hand-sewn buttonholes, hand-made saddles, I loved watching Tony insert diamonds into a sold gold bracelet while he looked through a microscope (Tony was kind enough to take my camera and shoot a picture of the diamonds he was working on thorough his lens) There was a watch maker with all of the mechanisms for the watches in front of him as well as quite a few watches to hold and marvel at.
The show only has today and tomorrow left. Tuesday March 29, 2011 and Wednesday march 30, 201l from 11 a.m. till 6 p.m. so if this is your idea of bliss you had better get a move on.