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Extraordinary Objects and Poetic Complications from Van Cleef & Arpels

by Felix Scholz . Mar 30, 2022

Extraordinary Objects and Poetic Complications from Van Cleef & Arpels

The fine jewelry house of Van Cleef & Arpels has been relatively quiet on the horology front of late, but the masters of poetic timekeeping have fired up with a fresh crop of artistic objects, as well as some bright flowers and balancing dancers to grace the dials of their new Poetic Complications.

Planétarium Automaton

First, let’s get carried away by the mystery of extraordinary objects. Van Cleef & Arpels has a long history of notable objets d’art, including automata and mysterious clocks. The first of two objects the Maison is highlighting this year takes inspiration from the night sky, with the Planétarium automaton — a large-scale interpretation of their critically acclaimed Planétarium wristwatch.

The solar system, according to Van Cleef & Arpels

A top down view of the Planétarium Automaton

This 50cm high mechanical planetarium accurately shows the dance of the planets and serves as a perpetual calendar for those here on earth. There’s also an on-demand animation with a musical accompaniment, thanks to a carillon array of bells and hammers. Holst would have been the easy option for the tune, but Van Cleef & Arpels have gone the extra mile, working with Swiss conceptual artist Michel Tirabosco for the melody. As you might expect, each of the heavenly bodies is exquisitely crafted from precious metals and stones.

Fontaine aux Oiseaux Automaton

The love birds of the Fontaine aux Oiseaux Automaton

The Fontaine aux Oiseaux automaton brings Van Cleef & Arpels back to Earth — with a charming, and absolutely fabulous garden scene featuring two golden bird automata sitting beside a fountain, created by François Junod. The birds are set with a dazzling array of sapphires, garnets, diamonds and more, and when activated, spend around a minute to move and sing in a surprisingly realistic facsimile of real birds. At the same time, the water in the basin ripples and flows while a dragonfly whirls about. It’s a fabulous display of craft and artistry, though it also serves a functional purpose — there is a retrograde time display at the base of the fountain and the mechanism has an eight-day power reserve.

Incredible care and rare crafts on show

Rêveries de Berylline Automaton

Sitting on a base of gold and red porphyry, this floral automaton displays an on-demand animation of a hummingbird (gold, set with sapphires, emeralds and tsavorite garnets, naturally) taking flight from a golden flower set with yellow sapphires, mandarin garnets and diamonds. Much work has gone into ensuring that the movement and rhythm of this delicate little bird match the real deal. When the automaton ceases its dance, the petals of the flowers gradually close to protect it until it is time for it to shine again.

The painstakingly modelled hummingbird is the centrepiece of the Rêveries de Berylline Automaton

Poetic Complications

While the large timekeeping objects of Van Cleef & Arpels are absolute showstoppers, their wrist-worn equivalents are equally delightful. This year, we have six new additions to the Poetic Complications collection. First, two new floral arrangements, a pair of diamond-encrusted 38mm white gold watches — the Heures Florales and the Heures Florales Cerisier — in which the mechanically opening flowers display the hours in a typically charming manner, alongside a lateral minutes display.

Exquisite craft and clever complication on show in the Heures Florales collection

For the two new takes on the Lady Arpels Ballerines Enchantées, the dynamism of movement is the theme, with a central dancer with butterfly wings indicating the time thanks to a double retrograde, on-demand time display activated via the slide on the left of the case. Of the two versions, both are undeniably impressive, but it’s hard to match the impact of the diamond-set white gold model on a fully diamond paved bracelet.

Retrograde elegance on the Lady Arpels Ballerines Enchantées

Finally, while the time-telling displays of the 33mm Lady Duo de Lions and Lady Duo de Lapins might be somewhat more conventional, the dials are nothing short of extraordinary. Set against a finely jeweled backdrop, a pair of finely sculpted golden lions in the Lady Duo de Lions dazzle by the light of the guilloche rose gold sun emerging from behind the mother-of-pearl clouds. The Duo de Lapins shows off a tender pair of rabbits, exquisitely sculpted from mother-of-pearl, with diamond eyes grazing on a field of pink sapphires, tsavorite garnets and emeralds.

Precious, paired dials on Lady Duo de Lions and Lady Duo de Lapins Precious, paired dials on Lady Duo de Lions and Lady Duo de Lapins

Tech Specs

Planétarium Automaton

Movement: Mechanical movement with 15-day power reserve
Function: Automaton and mechanical movements including a planetarium and 11 other modules such as hour/minute display, perpetual calendar, on-demand animation
Base: 50cm high, 66.5cm wide; yellow gold, white gold, diamonds, blue aventurine glass, ebony, white holly, glass, miniature painting, aluminum, brass, black and blue PVD, goat leather

Fontaine aux Oiseaux Automaton

Movement: Mechanical movement with eight-day power reserve
Function: Automaton and mechanical movements with retrograde hours and minutes
Base: 44.15cm high, 41.13cm wide; white gold, yellow gold, vegetal lacquer, hen eggshell marquetry, ebony, glass, purple sapphires, emeralds, tsavorite garnets, diamonds, aluminum, steel, black PVD, goat leather

Rêveries de Berylline Automaton

Movement: Mechanical movement with 8-day power reserve
Function: Automaton with on-demand animation, retrograde hours and minutes
Base: 27cm high, 21.5cm wide; yellow gold, diamonds, red porphyry, lapis lazuli, lacquer, ebony, aluminum, goat leather

Lady Arpels Heueres Florales / Heueres Florales Cerisier

Movement: Self-winding mechanical movement
Function: Module opening the flowers for the hours and a lateral display for the minutes
Case: 38mm; white gold with diamonds
Strap: Shiny blue or pink alligator strap

Lady Arpels Ballerines Enchantées

Retrograde elegance on the Lady Arpels Ballerines Enchantées

Movement: Self-winding mechanical movement, fitted with a retrograde and time-on-demand module
Function: Retrograde hours and minutes
Case: 40mm; white or rose gold, with diamonds
Strap: Diamond paved strap or purple alligator

Lady Duo de Lions / Duo de Lapins

Movement: Manual-winding mechanical movement
Function: Hours, minutes
Case: 33mm; white gold case with diamonds
Strap: Shiny lilac or green alligator strap