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For the 2023 Watches and Wonders salon, Van Cleef & Arpels is bringing all of its expertise to bear on a unique vision of timekeeping. Blending different know-how, the Maison perpetuates and enriches its history of jewels that tell time with creations combining jewelry and watchmaking traditions. The jewelry watches from the Perlée and Alhambra collections unveil new combinations of meticulously selected gems, while the skills of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Workshops are on full display in the Ludo Secret and the À Cheval High Jewelry watches. Dials captivate the gaze with their reflections or thanks to surprising and mesmerizing plays of hide and seek.

At the crossroads of traditional craft skills and technical expertise that distinguishes the Maison’s Watchmaking Workshops in Geneva, the Lady Féerie watch reinvents itself in harmonious new colors to manifest Van Cleef & Arpels’ unique Poetry of Time. Three Extraordinary Objects complete this dive into the heart of rare skills, marrying craftsmanship with a quest for motion to enchant the passing hours.

Jewellery watches

Culminating on the wrist or hanging from the neck, Van Cleef & Arpels precious watches combine jewellery know-how and watchmaking expertise to offer time and an elegant setting. The pieces reinterpret the emblematic aesthetics of the Perlée and Alhambra collections in a bold and contemporary way, giving rise to new combinations of materials, carefully chosen for their colour and quality. Depending on the creations, precious or ornamental stones and diamonds interact with gold, worked in delicate beads or radiant guilloché.

The Perlée collection – All the curves of golden beads

Van Cleef & Arpels highlights the signature aesthetic of the Perlée collection through new timepiece variations. Five timeless models marry gentle curves with subtle details, watchmaking savoir-faire with jewelry making inspiration to offer a contemporary take on jewellery that tells time.

In fluid lines, the watches bear a round shape bordered with a double row of golden beads displaying their side in mirror-polished rose gold or diamond-paved white gold. Under their rounded glass, the dials are adorned with a décor of pavé-set diamonds, or guilloché rose gold or mother-of-pearl, each capturing light for an intense sparkle. A pushbutton behind the case sets the time and remains invisible while the watch is being worn.

Four of the five models have a 23mm diameter case, with the fifth being 30mm. Each creation comes with an interchangeable alligator strap, along with a choice of a second one from the collection. A jewellery bracelet, fully composed of articulated golden beads echoing the beaded contour of the case, is also offered in a jewellery watch spirit. It follows every wrist movement like a second skin, ensuring that the Perlée watches are comfortable to wear. The straps can be easily changed to match the wearer’s mood.

The diamonds set on these creations meet the highest quality criteria – D to F for colour and IF to VVS for clarity – in order to bring intense brilliance to the dial. A strict selection is also made by experts gemologist for the mother-of-pearl, whose delicate iridescence is enhanced by the guillochage.

Precious dance

Golden beads once again come together in a charming ballet, complementing the tones of precious or ornamental stones to adorn six secret jewellery watches. Inspired by the pocket watches that appeared in 17th-century Europe, these creations take the form of curved and colourful pendants. True pieces of jewellery, are worn on a long necklace and accompany one’s silhouette. To check the time discreetly, all one must do is rotate the bejewelled motif to reveal the dial.

Three of these precious watches accent the brilliance of the signature beads with the intense hues of coloured precious gems. Rubies respond to the tender nuances of rose gold, while sapphires and emeralds harmonize with the solar brilliance of yellow gold. First introduced in the collection on jewellery creations, these gems distinguish themselves by their intense colour, demonstrating Van Cleef & Arpels’ attachment to precious stones. This commitment is also clear from the Maison’s strict and rigorous selection process for ornamental stones.

Three rare materials in the world of jewellery make their entrance in the Perlée collection, in the form of generous cabochons. Chalcedony, with its blue-grey to light-blue hues, offers a delicate translucency in regular striated bands. It is enhanced by the shine of white gold, whereas rose quartz – used for the first time in the collection – is known for its pastel colour, here paired with rose gold. Set in yellow gold, sodalite draws its poetic allure from the depths of its translucent, violet-tinged blue, inhabited by irregular light veins. Each stone is chosen for its quality, the harmony of its nuances, and its brightly polished surface.

The Alhambra collection – The time for luck

“To be lucky, you have to believe in luck,” as Jacques Arpels liked to say. From its conception, the Alhambra collection – Van Cleef & Arpels’ token of luck – has lent itself to elegant interpretations depending on the material and the occasion. Today, a new Sweet Alhambra jewellery watch alternates gold and ornamental stone motifs around a dial featuring the collection’s emblematic four-lobe shape in larger dimensions.

It marries the gentle tones of rose gold to the warm hues of carnelian, a material dear to the Maison and appreciated for its bright colour. A reddish-orange variety of agate, carnelian has been used to adorn jewellery since Antiquity. For its collections, Van Cleef & Arpels mainly select pieces with a deep and even colour, and a highly polished surface. Once selected, the lapidaries carefully pair the carnelian motifs to compose harmonious sets. Thanks to a radiant guilloché, rose gold reveals shifting gleams; the eye is captivated as light plays in the subtle relief of a sunburst.

The art of jewellery

An iconic Van Cleef & Arpels design, the Alhambra collection reflects all the expertise of a High Jewelry Maison. From lapidaries to jewellers, from stone-setting to polishing, each piece requires the collaboration of a wide variety of skills. Faithful to the standards of the Maison, the carnelian motifs are meticulously cut and polished, before being carefully paired. As with the guilloché gold motifs, they take their place at the centre of a beaded mount, a truly precious setting.

These golden contours are thoroughly reworked by jewellers, before the prongs – rounded for a gentler grip – are folded to hold the motifs delicately in place. A final stage of polishing accentuates the beauty of the ensemble. From selection to shaping to quality control, no fewer than fifteen steps are necessary to produce an iconic piece.

High jewellery watches

True creations of jewellery, while also enchanting timepieces, High Jewelry watches display the passing hours with a timeless sophistication. This year, Van Cleef & Arpels is devoting all of its jewellery-making expertise to its vision of the Poetry of Time. In the À Cheval collection, the mountings are flexible and scintillating, highlighting the beauty of diamonds and coloured gems.

Like a surprise, the watches of the Ludo Secret collection continue the tradition of mystery dear to the Maison. By cleverly hiding their dial, these elegant and inventive pieces allow their wearer to tell time with discretion, making every second a secret.

The Ludo Secret collection

Introducing two novelties among the High Jewelry watches, the Ludo Secret creations celebrate the timeless elegance of one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature pieces: the Ludo bracelet. Created in 1934, this aesthetic was named after the nickname of Louis Arpels, one of the Maison’s founding members. Shaped like a belt – the fashion accessory for any daring woman in the 1930s – the Ludo pieces have enjoyed widespread popularity since their release.

Van Cleef & Arpels highlights this iconic collection with a new size of watch and two combinations of materials. Rose gold marries with diamonds or pink sapphires, minutely set in the High Jewelry tradition of excellence. To compose these gemstone ensembles, the Maison’s gemologists gathered their expertise to pair diamonds of similar brilliance and pink sapphires of harmonious intensity. As in the original creation, the watches’ flexible, brick-pattern meshwork recalls a belt. Like a finely woven fabric, the mesh links are carefully assembled by hand, one by one, to deliver optimal articulation and flexibility.

In the tradition of secret watches so dear to Van Cleef & Arpels, these novelties reveal their dial in guilloché white mother-of-pearl at the simultaneous press of the two motifs in diamonds or pink sapphires.

The Maison is also unveiling a unique new creation inspired by the 1941 Ludo Hexagone Macaron secret watch. The dial is hidden behind a motif adorned with Mystery Set emeralds, remarkable for its intense color effect and the complexity of its realization. Because of their delicacy, emeralds require particular attention when cutting and inserting the stones into the motif’s structure. Slightly rounded, this section complements the diamond-studded curves of two concentric arcs framing the case. For its part, the bracelet is composed of a meshwork of yellow-gold hexagons, punctuated with star-set emeralds.

The Ludo Secret watch sheds light on a signature savoir-faire of the Maison’s repertoire: the Mystery Set. This technique, requiring an extremely high level of precision and skill, consists of using golden rails to hold up precious gems carefully paired for colour and meticulously cut for the creations. Once in position, the stones fit entirely over the setting, lending the surface a velvety brilliance. The level of technical expertise required to execute the Mystery Set is such that only a few lapidaries and master jewellers hold the secret.

The À Cheval creations

Revealed in all their splendor, precious stones take center stage in the new À Cheval creations. Two watches make their debut as part of the collection, displaying its signature aesthetic in new colors. On the first piece, blue sapphires crown a diamond-paved dial and stretch in a gradient through the length of the bracelet. On the second one, pink sapphires display varying tones from delicate shades to intense ones.

In the spirit of the À Cheval High Jewelry collection, platinum conceals itself in order to highlight the gemstones, which appear to be held in place as if by magic. This elegant placement is accomplished thanks to a gem-setting technique in staggered rows, which gives rise to plays of volume and sparkle.

Since its foundation, Van Cleef & Arpels has stood out for its expertise in selecting stones, at the service of the creations. This commitment to excellence is expressed through strict selection standards: the diamonds must be graded D to F for color and IF to VVS for clarity, combining to lend the pieces a rare intensity. With an eye and a taste unique to the Maison, the gemologists bring similarly exacting standards to colored gemstones, which they carefully choose to create a gradient of hues and sizes for each bracelet. This level of attention allows them to craft vibrant and harmonious ensembles.

Jewells that tell time – A signature of Van Cleef & Arpels’ style

Enchanted Hours

Whether painting a landscape, sculpting endearing characters, or breathing life into an enchanting scene: Van Cleef & Arpels’ craftsmen combine their expertise to inspire dreams and wonderment. The Lady Féerie watch is reimagined in new hues made possible by different shades of enamel and miniature painting, and three Extraordinary Objects reflect the Maison’s taste for the mechanical arts. To complement the work of watchmakers, Van Cleef & Arpels surrounds them with talents, forged through transmission, passion, and time devoted to their craft. These masters deploy the nobility of their expertise in the service of the Maison’s Poetry of Time, transforming challenges into innovations. These exquisite compositions bear witness to the infinite creativity and collective excellence of Van Cleef & Arpels.

Lady Féerie Or Rose

Since the 1940s, Van Cleef & Arpels has celebrated the beauty of fairies through creations brimming with enchantment. Today, the Maison is offering a new take on its Lady Féerie watch, entirely in shades of pink. Enriching the Féerie collection, this Poetic Complications piece brings together watchmaking savoir-faire and traditional crafts in a 33mm case of delicate proportions. In a dreamlike scene, a fairy marks the passing hours with its magic wand in the soft light of dusk.

Like a protective muse, she appears seated on an iridescent cloud of white mother-of-pearl, wearing a dress of diamonds, pink sapphires, and a miniature painting on gold. Her wings are coated with a powdery gradient, achieved by combining translucent pink plique-à-jour enamel with opaque pink enamel. Employed in the same design by the Maison, these techniques create interplays of light and transparency in the wings, which are bordered with diamonds minutely set after the enamelling. With her diamond face, the feminine figure points out the minutes with her magic wand, while the setting sun welcomes the passing of the hours in a window of mother-of-pearl haloed with a soothing glow. Visible from the underside of the watch, the oscillating weight is engraved with a night sky, showing a full moon sprinkled with stars. This design is covered by a sapphire glass adorned with clouds whose enamelled contours create a slightly glittery effect.

At the crossroads of expertise

Watchmaking, jewellery-making, and rare skills join forces to breathe life into this poetic scene. The Lady Féerie Or Rose watch is graced with a self-winding mechanism, jumping hours, and retrograde minutes. Highly precise design and assembly were needed to ensure that such sophisticated movement could take place in the 33mm Lady case. The latter is elevated with a curved sapphire glass, accommodating a three-dimensional fairy. It also optimizes the entrance of light and rounds off the watch’s silhouette.

The dial showcases the techniques mastered by the Van Cleef & Arpels Watchmaking Workshops in Geneva. On an engraved mother-of-pearl background, no fewer than four colours – from pearly white to deep plum, with a delicate gold and an intense fuchsia – paint the evening sky that illuminates the scene. More than ten attempts were required for the Maison’s craftsmen to achieve this soft gradient. The plique-à-jour enamel adorning the fairy’s wings presents, for its part, a unique shade of pink, specially crafted by Van Cleef & Arpels enamel workshop in order to harmonize with the colours of the dial.

Extraordinary objects

Van Cleef & Arpels is also renowned in a rare and little-known field: that of Extraordinary Objects and automatons. These are in line with the clocks and table objects created by the Maison since its origin, a tradition revivified in 2017 with the Fée Ondine automaton. Since then, the family of Extraordinary Objects has been enriched with new unique creations, which have the particularity of combining an aesthetic of great refinement, noble and precious materials and a mechanical movement, at the service of the magic of the moment.

Planétarium Automaton – The Planétarium collection

Dazzled by the spectacle of the heavens and stars, Van Cleef & Arpels pays tribute to these marvels with its Poetic Astronomy universe. In 2014, the Maison set its eye on the long-standing tradition of figurative reproductions of the heavens and worked on reducing the dimensions of the planetarium – a model representing the Sun, the Moon, and the planets closest to Earth – adapting them to the scale of the wrist. This gave rise to the Midnight Planétarium watch, which depicts the trajectories of the planets in the Solar System on a timepiece of great complexity. The masculine model was complemented by a feminine version in 2018, a High Jewelry watch in 2021, and by an automaton of important dimensions in 2022. Enriching this year its Planétarium collection, Van Cleef & Arpels presents a new version of its Extraordinary Object, interpreted in a combination of materials never seen before.

The ballet of the planets, the result of Van Cleef & Arpels’ watchmaking expertise

Distinguished by its impressive dimensions (50cm high and 66.5cm diameter), the Planétarium automaton presents the Sun and many of the planets of its system visible from the Earth: Mercury, Venus, the Earth – accompanied by its satellite, the Moon –, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Thanks to a mechanical movement of great complexity, each heavenly body moves at its genuine speed of rotation, carrying out a complete orbit in 88 days for Mercury, 224 days for Venus, 365 days for the Earth, 687 days for Mars, 11.86 years for Jupiter, and 29.5 years for Saturn. As it does on the collection’s feminine creations, the Moon circles the Earth in 27.3 days, animating the object with perceptible movement day after day. This decorative object is fitted with a planétarium module, along with an on-demand animation allowing the dance of the orbs to be replayed at will, developed specifically for Van Cleef & Arpels in collaboration with the CompliTime team.

Beneath the automaton’s glass globe – blown specially for the object at the Fluid workshop in France’s Belle-Île – a poetic scene comes alive. When the animation starts, a shooting star in gold, diamonds and Mystery Set sapphires and emeralds appears from a small door and circles the dial to indicate the hours. It sweeps the planets along in a veritable ballet – accompanied by a melody specially created in partnership with Michel Tirabosco, Swiss musician and concert artist. Every second planet moves in the opposite direction to their natural orbit, bringing a fairy-tale poetry to the ensemble. On the base of the object, several dials follow one another: hours/minutes, day/night, perpetual calendar indicating the day, month and year, and finally power reserve. A door also allows to observe the automaton’s 15 chimes.

The magic of materials

To recreate the wonder inspired by gazing at the heavens, Van Cleef & Arpels has paid particular attention to selecting and working the materials, combining precious and ornamental stones. The Sun reveals a heart highlighted by yellow sapphires, spessartite garnets and diamonds, set on 500 gold stems endowing it with an effect of depth and lightness. When the automaton comes to life, it quivers as a result of a trembleur in the mechanism. This jewellery technique enables the motif to vibrate at the slightest movement, accentuating the sparkle of the stones.

Different three-dimensional planets are arranged around the Sun. Mercury is represented by a chrysoprase bead surrounded by white gold, sapphires and diamonds, while Venus offsets the shades of rose quartz with those of yellow and white gold and pink sapphires. Earth gives pride of place to turquoise, surrounded by a jewelry structure in white gold, sapphires, tsavorite garnets and diamonds. The familiar glow of the Moon, in orbit around the Earth, is evoked by a moonstone surrounded by white gold, yellow gold and diamonds, which contrast with the glittery black of the object. Red jasper lends its warm tones to Mars, its intense hues accentuated by the association with rose gold and pink sapphires. Lastly, Jupiter is adorned with a heart in brown-toned jasper and a border in yellow and white gold, sapphires and diamonds, while Saturn showcases obsidian, its rings blending white and yellow gold with sapphires and diamonds.

Suggesting the depth of the heavens, fifteen black aventurine glass discs sprinkled with diamonds are positioned concentrically within the dial, seven of them individually animated by the mechanism. The planets thus move at their own rhythms within a glittering setting. The ensemble inspires a dual emotion, suspended between immersion in the universe and the beauty of the craftsmanship.

Floraison du Nénuphar and Éveil du Cyclamen Automata – A gentle contemplation

The aesthetic inaugurated by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2022 with its Rêveries de Berylline automaton continues today with two unique creations inspired by nature. This cherished theme of the Maison comes alive in two automata: Floraison du Nénuphar and Éveil du Cyclamen, which combines the reading of time on the base with a spellbinding spectacle. About 30cm tall, these objects – created in partnership with the François Junod workshop – display the opening of a flower on demand, revealing a butterfly inside. The latter’s takeoff required hours of research and experiments: its wings move realistically, batting a few seconds at a time for a natural rhythm. The butterfly then returns to its place at the center of the flower, which simultaneously and gently closes all its petals. Crystalline music, specifically composed for each automaton, accompanies this scene at the opening and closing of the flowers.

Savoir-faire at the service of enchantment

The fully sculpted base of the Floraison du Nénuphar automaton is made of two pieces of griotte marble and a shattuckite bowl – a material composed of copper silicates with tones ranging from blue to green. These materials, chosen with care by the Maison’s gemologists, were minutely cut and polished to bring out their unique character and verve. The crafts mastered in Van Cleef & Arpels’ jewelry workshops breathe life into the butterfly, whose body is made of a white gold structure adorned with turquoise and diamonds and whose eyes are suggested by two emeralds. The animal flaps its wings of plique-à-jour enamel, letting light pass through smoothly. It rises above a dome of yellow gold set with yellow sapphires of two shades, spessartite garnets and diamonds that gleam like the sun from the center of a delicate corolla. The latter is adorned with nuanced hues, the product of skilled airbrushed lacquer. A lily pad and stem appear, drawing the eye toward a rose gold flower bud, similarly lacquered. To complete the creation, a white-gold fairy set with three shades of blue sapphires graces the base of the object, where a rotating ring tells the hours.

The Éveil du Cyclamen automaton stirs to life on a base of two pieces of green aventurine and a bowl of purple jade. Expertly polished and harmoniously sprinkled with inclusions, they demonstrate the Maison’s expertise in selecting ornamental stones rare or unusual in jewellery. The butterfly that flutters above the creation, its precious flapping captivating the eye, shows Van Cleef & Arpels’ High Jewelry expertise. Special attention was given to the interplay between diamonds, emeralds, lapis lazuli, and plique-à-jour enamel that adorn it, mimicking the form and shimmering look of a real butterfly. It takes place at the heart of a floral arrangement depicting a bouquet of cyclamen. Airbrush-lacquered one by one in successive layers, the flowers display subtle nuances of pink and purple, identical from one bud to another. As a final detail, a flower of rose gold, lacquer, and diamonds overlooks the rotating ring at the base of the piece, illuminating the course of the hours.