1st generation (HP-2/58, 1958–66)
Photo: Bin im Garten, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
One example. Colors, sub-models, and production years vary; the machine you find may differ.
Hermes 30001st gen, "curvy"
buttery, silken, tight typebars
The reference for a smooth stroke. Not whisper-silent so much as a well-dampened chonk; there's no rubber bump at the bottom of the keypress, it just feels secure.
The original rounded Hermes 3000, made in Yverdon by Paillard from 1958 to 1966. Famously smooth, famously quiet, with a segment shift that travels almost without sound and a carriage that returns like a watchmaker's escapement. The first generation is the one most collectors mean when they say Hermes 3000 — the seafoam-green body, the soft hard-shell cover, the unmistakable curves. McMurtry called it one of the noblest instruments of European genius during his Brokeback Mountain acceptance speech.
What people say
one of the noblest instruments of European genius
— Larry McMurtry · Brokeback Mountain Golden Globe acceptance, 2006
smooth and quiet, the writer's typewriter
exceptional touch and a near-silent operation
Used by
See & hear it for yourself
Manuals & repair
All sources
External, in their original form. The people who know these machines best — click through to read and watch.
Where to find one
Listings come and go. These show whatever Hermes 3000 machines are on the marketplace right now.
See Hermes 3000 listings on eBay marketplace
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Specifications
- Manufacturer
- Paillard / Hermes
- Origin
- Switzerland
- Years
- 1958–1966
- Form
- Portable
- Mass
- 5 kg
- Shift
- segment