Watchmaking creations have appeared in Van Cleef & Arpels collections since the 1910’s. The genius of the jeweller’s ethos was joined by a mastery of high watchmaking. Van Cleef & Arpels’ taste for a challenge saw the creation of spectacular clocks known as “Mystérieuses” (the hands of which appeared to float in space), small precious clocks and, of course, watches. Certain watches, such as the Châtelaines, were also worn as a clip on the back of a shirt-front or a woman’s suit, or sheltered in the watch pocket (a small pocket in a waistcoat or pair of trousers). Adorned with precious stones, concealing their dial under a jewellery motif, housed in a Minaudière pouch, they revealed Van Cleef & Arpels’ technical mastery, careful attention to detail and taste for the fabulous. They were then transformed into bracelet-watches, thus becoming truly indispensable accessories. Cadenas, Alhambra, Charms, Carrelage, Pierre Arpels... Over the course of the collections, Van Cleef & Arpels has produced marvels of jewellery- making creativity and virtuosity, masterpieces of technical ingenuity at the service of a style; a sensitive, unusual, alternative perception of time.

Continuing this dreamlike journey, in 2006 Van Cleef & Arpels created the first Poetic Complication™ with a dial that evokes the seasons by turning imperceptibly over 365 days. Creation by creation, highly complex mechanical movements displaying great artistic virtuosity have brought an enchanted world to life. Van Cleef & Arpels’ jewellery-making genius is expressed here with great panache, and is often joined by other artistic crafts. Masters of enamelling, marquetry and sculpture also lend their precious, rare expertise to these watchmaking creations. This is how the Poetry of Time came into being, a watchmaking world made up of dreams and enchantment, collections in which each timepiece, like a work of art, tells us a tale- another story of passing time.

Painting a landscape, sculpting figures, allowing light to shine through: by adorning the dial in totally unique ways, artistic craftsmen bring Poetic Complication™ timepieces to life. To accompany the work of its master watchmakers, Van Cleef & Arpels surrounds itself with the greatest talents, those whose expertise is the fruit of passion, of secrets and... of time. The heir to a profession at risk of extinction, a student who has completed many years of apprenticeship: each individual places his or her noble craft at the service of the jeweller’s creativity. And if Van Cleef & Arpels’ watchmaking creations allow them to perpetuate their art, they also lead them to reinvent it, transforming every challenge into a creation and production secret. They also provide them with the opportunity of combining age-old craftsmanship with contemporary motifs. It was with this in mind that Van Cleef & Arpels used the “vitrail” and “contre-jour” enamelling techniques for the first time, to create the dials of certain Poetic Complications™ and Extraordinary Dials™ timepieces.

Each motif requires hundreds of hours’ work, mainly because it is applied to the infinitely limited surface of the dial. The extreme precision of the design requires the craftsman not only to adapt his or her technique, but also to demonstrate great patience and ingenuity in order to give the timepiece all its poetry. It is this virtuosity that will reveal the emotion of these masterful miniatures signed Van Cleef & Arpels.

Gold sculpture

The sculptor’s art consists of extracting a figure from a block of material and bringing it to life. In order to craft the precious metal, play with its appearance, highlight its reflections and give it a velvety appearance, he first measures it with his gaze, then with his hands. This is because, while his observational capacities and sense of aesthetics are crucial, it is the “intelligence” of his hands that prevails.

It all begins with a plate of gold upon which the craftsman traces the principal outlines of the motif with the aid of a microscope. The difficulty lies in adapting the design to an infinitely reduced scale. He then begins his three-dimensional work, shaping it patiently before turning his attention to the details: accentuating a curve, reproducing a texture, and adding brilliance in order to reveal all of the poetry of the motif. It is light that, when cast over curves and reliefs, will reveal the richness of this miniature work of art.

Gold sculpture is a highly meticulous art that demands perfect technical mastery, and therefore perfect knowledge of the artist’s tools. Scribing tools, chisels, gravers and chasing tools (which the craftsman has sometimes created himself ) adapt to the craftsman’s every movement and meet his every requirement.

Throughout its collections, Van Cleef & Arpels has paid homage to this traditional craftsmanship, for example on the dial of the Féérie timepiece. Seated on a diamond-paved ball, a fairy points to each hour with her magic wand and to each minute with the tip of her wings. From her finely-sculpted arms to the delicious curve of her legs, her entire silhouette suggests movement. We half expect to see her stand up and stretch her legs for a second, before settling down to regulate time once more.

Enamel painting in miniature

This extremely ancient technique, dating back to Antiquity, has established the reputation of numerous artists from the Middle Ages onwards. Like a painter with his palette, the enameller-craftsman uses coloured enamels composed of silica powder, very finely-ground pigments, and oil.

First, he creates an extremely hard white enamel base, able to withstand the various firings. Then, with the aid of a binocular magnifying glass, the craftsman – or, we might say, the painter, as the arts resemble one another so closely – applies the colour using a fine pine-marten-hair paintbrush. The colours are added one by one in a very precise order, from the lighter shades to the brighter ones. Each requires a specific firing, the temperature and duration of which remain the secret of the master enameller. While the design, which is drawn freehand, requires precision, dexterity and genuine painting talent, each firing demands experience and patience.

Only very few craftsmen in the world have mastered the secrets of enamel painting in miniature, bearing in mind the fact that a pigment can always react to the firing in an unpredictable manner... And while the craftsman reproduces a motif, his sensitivity and the unique way in which he interprets it are what make it a genuinely rare piece. The meticulous nature of this technique explains why the production of a painted enamel dial requires almost fifty hours’ work. Furthermore, the capricious character of the colours, particularly during firing, requires the craftsman to carry out a constant “technological watch” in order to perfect his art.

With infinite poetry and mysterious charm, the dial of the Océanide timepiece pays brilliant homage to enamel painting in miniature. Inspired by the Atlantide High Jewellery collection, this Poetic Complication™ displays a magical landscape. By turning imperceptibly over the 365 days of the year, the dial reveals incredible sea creatures from behind mother- of-pearl waves. As the seasons pass, these Oceanides dance around the dial in the changing colours of a beautiful marine world.

“Contre-jour” enamel

This enamelling process dating from the 16th century, more commonly known as grisaille enamel, was developed for the first time in the world of watchmaking for Van Cleef & Arpels. The specific nature of this little-used technique is the use of a palette consisting only of black and white.

First, the craftsman creates a dense, perfectly smooth black enamel base, which will be able to withstand the successive firings. Then, using a fine paintbrush, he gradually creates the motif by “dragging” a minute quantity of finely-ground white enamel powder. During the firings – around ten will be necessary – these successive layers will reveal the decoration in subtle gradations of grey, beginning with the darkest, and, finally, revealing the brightest. This monochrome effect has led grisaille enamel to be called “contre-jour” enamel.

“Contre-jour” enamelling was particularly popular during the Renaissance, but today it appears in a dazzlingly modern style, such as on the dial of the Pont des Amoureux timepiece: nestling in a starry sky, a crescent moon lights up the silhouettes of a collection of houses and a garden surrounded by a gate. Above this shadow theatre, on the famous Pont des Arts, a man and a woman move towards each other, meeting at midnight for a minute-long kiss. They then part, before meeting again 11 hours, 59 minutes later for another kiss. This romantic walk in which each character moves forward at his own pace – the woman to the rhythm of the hours, the man to the rhythm of the minutes – conceals a retrograde mechanical movement: by working forwards then backwards, only this mechanism can allow these two lovers to meet, again and again.

“Vitrail” enamel

The highly complex “vitrail” enamelling technique is carried out in two stages. The first consists of tracing the contours of the motif using a tiny gold blade. During the second stage, the craftsman fills in the cavities he has created with enamel powder, before firing it at temperatures of 800°C. Once vitrified, they appear in translucent hues, allowing the light to shine through the layer of coloured glass: the motif has become a miniature stained-glass window that will then be placed on the gold disc of the dial.

Only the craftsman’s virtuosity and experience allow him to reproduce the motif precisely and in all its delicacy, to create a palette of original colours that corresponds exactly to the shades required by Van Cleef & Arpels, and finally, master the firing to perfection.

The process is rendered even more difficult by the fact that it is carried out on the tiny surface of the dial... Infinite patience and successful mastery of the technique allow both a shimmering and velvety finished effect, in which the colours appear to be suspended on golden threads.

The radiant delicacy of “vitrail” enamel was expressed for the first time in the Lady Arpels Extraordinary Butterfly collection. In subtle gradations of brown, the butterfly’s wings blend with the shimmering petals of the immense golden-brown flower from which it is gathering pollen. Captured as it takes flight, it appears to have paused for a second on the dial, allowing shadow to play with light on its quivering wings.

Miniature painting on mother-of-pearl

All the poetry of mother-of-pearl and the infinite number of light effects offered by this iridescent surface are highlighted by this technique. Painstaking and precise, miniature painting on enamel requires meticulous care and extreme rigour at every stage of the process.

The craftsman transfers the principal lines of the original design free- hand to an extremely slender mother-of-pearl disc, taking care to respect this initial positioning to the nearest millimetre. He then applies each colour individually with a paintbrush using a colour palette that he has created himself, thus closely guarding his production secrets. As soon as a colour has been added, the craftsman places the mother-of-pearl disc in an oven at 80°C for one hour. This stage allows the colour to be fixed – it thus becomes unalterable – and also allows the coloured surface to be polished, eliminating any marks left by the paintbrush. For each enamel coulour used, another firing is required, so patience is of the essence.

While the craftsman’s dexterity, sense of volume and ability to breathe emotion into Van Cleef & Arpels’ motifs are essential qualities, so is his knowledge of mother-of-pearl.

It is by experimenting with the brilliance and reflections of this natural material that the design takes on all of its power, as though it had come to life, like the motif that blossoms on the dial of the Butterfly timepiece: a butterfly with translucent wings, the green monochrome of which goes perfectly with the bouquet of mauve pansies over which it flies. Here, miniature painting on mother-of-pearl provides a true “lesson of nature”, highlighted by the precision of a highly poetic motif.

Marquetry work

Magical, sensual, poetic and symbolic: stones have always formed the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels collections. If jeweller craftsmen magnify them with a thousand and one setting techniques, the marquetry craftsman arranges them in subtle compositions. In order to create a motif, the stones must first be painstakingly selected. This work requires all the expertise of Van Cleef & Arpels’ gemmologists. The aim is to bring together the nuances of colour and texture that will allow the motif to be recreated from an impressive palette: stones with strong or soft colours, matt or translucent, smooth or covered with reliefs, not to mention the immense variety of mother-of-pearl.

Like in a miniature puzzle, each element has a specific position. With extraordinary precision, the craftsman cuts the material so that it perfectly fits the gold disc of the dial. The thickness – sometimes less than half a millimetre – and fragility of certain materials such as mother-of-pearl heightens the difficulty of the task.

He then assembles these fine strips one by one in the infinitely reduced area of the dial, patiently recreating the illusion of relief and the depth of perspective. Certain decorations bring together thirty pieces in this manner, in order to reinterpret a landscape.

A technique that has always been beloved of Van Cleef & Arpels – as early as the 1920’s, Minaudière pouches were adorned with striking Japanese landscapes – marquetry work is expressed with great panache in the Extraordinary Dials™ collection. The Lady Arpels Paysage Polaire timepiece, for example, recreates an ice floe in the pink light of dawn. The reflections of the mother-of-pearl and its infinite variety of nuances perfectly recreate the iridescent whiteness of the ice and the relief of this landscape upon which a bear and two bear cubs have come to stretch their limbs. With a simple movement of the wrist, the ice will sparkle while a bluish shadow will be cast over this eternal moment.

Alhambra

The Alhambra collection belongs to the heritage of Van Cleef & Arpels and its good-luck motif has become a veritable signature of the jeweller. A fine example is this watchmaking collection in which the famous four-leaf clover continues to amaze, reinventing itself around onyx and mother-of-pearl and playing with its charm in two different sizes. Like the sets in the jewellery collection, the case combines precious materials, highlighting them with a row of yellow or white gold beads and occasionally diamonds. The bracelet presents a variety of styles: in its sober version, it adopts black satin; the jewellery version echoes the motif in mother-of-pearl or onyx, or, in the lighter version, is open-worked and bordered with a row of diamonds.

Cadenas

Thanks to Van Cleef & Arpels’ imagination, anything can become precious. A simple padlock therefore leads to the creation of a timepiece with an incredible clasp. Launched in 1936, the idea captivated the Duchess of Windsor. Who would have thought back then that this nod to a small everyday object was to become one of the most elegant of all watchmaking creations? The jeweller’s ingenuity gave it an inclined dial, a totally unique clasp and various forms of bracelet. Today, the strength of its design and the fluidity of the snake chain that adorns certain versions have withstood the passing of time and fashions. Entirely or partially diamond-set, in yellow or white gold, Cadenas timepieces remain brilliant stylistic compositions.

Charms

Inspired by it shighly imaginative jewellery, Van Cleef & Arpels has invented a brand new watchmaking creation. Classic yet surprising, this timepiece is adorned with an inseparable Alhambra good-luck charm set with brilliants that turns freely around the dial. Its shapes are perfectly balanced, based on curves and extremely fine details. The sunburst-effect guilloché dial highlights the purity of the baton-shaped hands and applied hour markers while adding a touch of glamour to this ultra-feminine creation. Available in white or pink gold, signed on the edge of the case, set with two rows of diamonds or entirely paved, the Charms timepiece comes in three different sizes and possesses an ingenious system of interchangeable bracelets to match the wearer’s outfit and mood.

Lady Arpels

With its round case and highly sober lines, Lady Arpels allows creation to reign supreme. Every nuance of mother-of-pearl plays its part in the Lady Arpels Papillon collection, from the iridescent whiteness of seashells from Balito the shimmering reflections of those from Tahiti. Satin-brushed or polished, these magnificent light effects bring a butterfly to life. Its wings appear to flutter, ready to alight delicately on the arm of she who has chosen the timepiece. In a white or yellow gold case, this extremely simple motif is sometimes illuminated with a row of diamonds. Finally, this model is punctuated with more diamonds, one on the crown, others highlighting the bracelet clasp.

Timeless

By combining the softness of the oval with the elegance of a classic design, Van Cleef & Arpels created Timeless, a rounded timepiece, the harmony of which is the result of minute details: a bezel whose width varies according to the curve of the oval, and a lightly rounded case that comes in two different sizes. Timeless combines this sensuality with simplicity, with a white mother-of-pearl dial bearing only two hands and the jeweller’s signature; or in the jewellery versions with a guilloché dial adorned with diamond-set Roman numerals and a crown graced with a briolette-cut diamond charms. Finally, for a collection of numbered pieces, Timeless’ oval dial is transformed by mother-of-pearl marquetry work and gold sculpture set with precious stones, a bird of paradise decoration or a theatre telling poetic tales.

Pierre Arpels

In 1949, Pierre Arpels, the son of one of the founders of Van Cleef & Arpels, designed a round timepiece with elegant, pure lines. Its case integrates two central strap fastenings, a true signature of this timepiece. Although designed as a unique piece, it was so much admired that it has since become a classic. Today, Van Cleef & Arpels reinterprets this powerfully understated timepiece. Drawing inspiration from the innovative spirit of its creator, it has maintained its hand-wound mechanical movement while at the same time playing with modernity: its design has been refined, its ultra-thin case is bevelled in shape and its crown is adorned with a diamond. Finally, on its embossed dial recalling the maker’s mark – a tapestry inspired by the “piqué” motif of a formal shirt – two fine, slender hands circle around hour-markers in relief. In white or pink gold with two different case sizes, the Pierre Arpels timepiece may be adorned with a row of diamonds to highlight its timeless beauty.

High Jewellery

High jewellery and watchmaking: these two crafts, admirably brought together and mastered by Van Cleef & Arpels, are presented in precious collections based on the jeweller’s favourite themes, such as nature and couture. Extreme care and attention are lavished on the selection, pairing and setting of the stones, as well as the development of assembly techniques for the links or ingenious closing systems. This exceptional work perfectly complements the virtuosity of the master watchmakers who create the movements, mechanisms and complications. They are housed in these sometimes unique, always exceptional pieces, crafted with boldness and creativity in the name of perfection.

Extraordinary Dials™

With their turquoise enamel skies, mother-of-pearl waves, diamond-set animals with furry coats or ruby flowers, the Extraordinary Dials™ decorations resemble a collection of paintings by master miniaturists. Here, the most precious materials enhance noble mechanical movements, giving Van Cleef & Arpels’ version of time a special poetic dimension. On these limited-edition timepieces, each of which tells its own story, all the creative stages of watchmaking give rise to an extraordinary metamorphosis. The virtuoso time of the master watchmakers is embellished by that of the master jewellers, enamellers, gold sculptors, and precious marquetry craftsmen. And it is the coming together of these unique crafts that results in the creation of rare timepieces, veritable watchmaking poetry, on which the hours and minutes become the symbols of a time that is charged with emotions and intimate memories.

The Extraordinary Presentation Case

This case in curved blue sycamore wood contains... constellations: the precious dials of the four time pieces of the De la Terre à la Lune collection, a limited series comprising numbered pieces inspired by Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraordinaires (extraordinary journeys). Like an invitation to discovery, four small magnifying portholes allow the decorations dedicated to the Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Pegasus and Peacock constellations to be observed. When opened, the case reveals a starry sky in mother-of-pearl and wooden marquetry work, presenting the four Extraordinary Dials™ timepieces. Their motifs celebrate the art of diamond setting, but also those of stone marquetry work, gold sculpture and enamelling like this majestic swan flying over the milky way which, with a beat of its translucent wings, lights up the heavens with its purity and grace.

Poetic Complications™

Because beauty and wonder have always made Van Cleef & Arpels’ heart beat faster, in 2006 the jeweller created the first Poetic Complication™. By bringing together Van Cleef & Arpels’ stylistic inventiveness, the expertise of its master jewellers and the technical virtuosity of artistic craftsmen, the jeweller brings a new dimension to High Watchmaking: characters are animated, decorations are metamorphosed, changing to the beat of the hours, days or seasons, transforming a dial into a magical scene. Each timepiece thus becomes a poetic theatre presenting a new interpretation of the passing of time, an unexpected, moving, enchanted tale: the imperceptible turning of the seasons over the 365 days of the year, the journey of the hours throughout the day, the appearance of the heavens over the months... Designed especially for the purpose, superior mechanisms allow this poetic perception of time to be proposed, appearing to beat to the rhythm of the heart, the breath of emotion, and the memory of happy moments. Never before has watchmaking expertise served beauty so well, and never before has poetry appeared to be so close to dreams.