Hermès has an unmatched ability to turn almost anything into an ultra-desirable object. It doesn’t matter if the only pool you know is the kind you swim in. One look at the Off Piste 8-foot American pool table and you’ll want to grab a cue stick. Finished in English green (vert anglais), it’s gorgeous and priced at a generous $265,400. Whether you actually play or not, this piece is clearly made for the discerning collector who can’t resist the finer things in life.
What makes the 8-foot table stand out is its archetypal silhouette and the craft-led materials: matte leather rails, a leather-clad cabinet, pockets in Taurillon Regate leather, and sculptural lacquered legs. The French-made table arrives with four cue sticks, a billiard chalk wrapped in Taurillon Regate leather, and an Hermès cover.
Even the accessories are treated like design objects. The rack is made in bakelite with lacquered paint and leather detailing, while the cue sticks feel just as considered, built around a natural polished hornbeam shaft with a maple-wood handle wrapped in Taurillon Regate leather, finished with polished metal rings and a leather-seamed joint. In the rarefied world of luxury game tables, Hermès isn’t alone, but it is operating at the sharp end of the category. Louis Vuitton has played in similar territory with a sleeker billiards table at a dramatically lower price point.
And then there was the engineering-first option, the Bugatti and IXO carbon-fiber table built for superyachts, with an optional gyroscopic self-leveling system designed to compensate for movement at sea. For anyone who wants a statement piece for a sprawling mansion’s game room, the Off Piste 8 Feet, $265,400, is available from Hermès.
