Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2018
Lady Arpels Planétarium
For the SIHH 2018, the Maison is turning its gaze toward the sky to unveil a version of the Midnight Planétarium™ watch specially designed for women. Expressing the Poetry of Time® by Van Cleef & Arpels, this creation once again conveys the celestial ballet with an exclusive new module. While Mercury, Venus and Earth rotate around the sun at their actual speeds, the diamond Moon completes its sparkling orbit in 29.5 days. The magic of the universe comes to life in a precious setting, encapsulated on a woman’s wrist.
Lady Arpels™ Planétarium Poetic Complications watch
38-mm case in white gold set with diamonds, bezel set with diamonds and crown set with a diamond
Dial: aventurine, Sun in pink gold, shooting star in rhodium-plated gold, Mercury in pink mother-of-pearl, Venus in green enamel, Earth in turquoise, Moon in diamond
Case back: white gold, pink gold, aventurine, sapphire glass, calendar, oscillating weight in white gold and black PVD, Moon in white gold with serti neige style diamonds, Earth in turquoise and ornamental stones echoing the planets
Self-winding mechanical movement featuring a Planétarium module developed exclusively for Van Cleef & Arpels, 40-hour power reserve
Blue glitter alligator strap with a white gold pin buckle set with diamonds or white gold bracelet set with diamonds
Numbered edition
A feminine vision of the cosmos
Four years after unveiling the Midnight Planétarium watch, Van Cleef & Arpels is restyling this iconic creation, offering an original women’s edition to enrich the universe of Poetic Astronomy™. Distinguished both by refined aesthetics and its automatic movement, developed exclusively for the Maison, the Lady Arpels Planétarium watch illustrates the Sun and the closest planets: Mercury, Venus and finally Earth, along with its natural satellite, the Moon. Each heavenly body moves at its actual speed, orbiting the dial in 88 days for Mercury, 224 days for Venus and 365 days for Earth. In a key innovation for this piece, the Moon itself rotates around the Earth in 29.5 days, performing a visible celestial ballet on the dial, day after day.
The choice of planets, imbued with feminine symbolism in the case of Venus and the Moon, goes hand in hand with craftsmanship to adapt the dimensions of the timepiece to a woman’s wrist. The Lady Arpels case, 38-mm in diameter and set with diamonds in the bezel and sides of the case, houses a movement redesigned for this smaller size, with an exclusive module developed in collaboration with Christiaan van der Klaauw. The dial enriches the planetary spectacle with a shooting star in rhodium-plated gold, showing the time with poetic grace. On the back of the watch, two apertures display the day, month and year, all surrounded by an enchanting decor.
Two bracelets are available to suit any occasion: a blue glitter alligator strap to match the dial, and a bracelet entirely set with diamonds for a High Jewelry design.
Magic materials
To recreate the awe-inspiring experience of stargazing, Van Cleef & Arpels took special care in selecting and working with the traditional materials of jewelry and watchmaking. Planets of differing volumes rotate around a Sun made of pink gold, gleaming in the center of the dial. A pink mother-of-pearl Mercury and a turquoise Earth were meticulously hand cut in spherical shapes, while Venus is portrayed with a green enamel bead, fashioned in the Van Cleef & Arpels enamel workshops in Meyrin, Switzerland. The familiar glow of the Moon as it orbits the Earth comes to life with a brilliant-cut diamond, contrasting with the midnight blue background. Evoking the depth of the cosmos, seven aventurine discs are placed in concentric circles within the dial, several rotating individually with the watch movement. The planets and the shooting star thus move at actual speed through their sparkling environment.
The back of the case displays the same shades, recalling the celestial bodies in their respective materials on an aventurine disc. The journey continues in the center with the oscillating weight adorned with a precious depiction of the Moon. A turquoise circle embraces a crescent embellished with diamonds of varying diameters, set using the serti neige style technique. The final creation stirs the emotions, offering both an immersion into the universe and the beauty of fine jewelry craftsmanship.
Poetry of Time
Ever faithful to a poetic view of life, Van Cleef & Arpels instills a distinctive dimension into the art of watchmaking: that of dreams and emotions. A blend of inventiveness and fantasy, the Maison’s creations interpret the measurement of time as an invitation to imagine, wander and revel in happiness.
In this regard, Van Cleef & Arpels calls on the expertise of master watchmakers and craftsmen: lapidaries, gem setters, enamelers, engravers and more. The technical wonders of watchmaking, like the precious materials and traditional savoir-faire, are all part of the story that brings the dial to life.
Poetic Astronomy
Dazzled by the spectacle of the heavens and stars, Van Cleef & Arpels pays homage to these marvels with its Poetic Astronomy. The interaction of Sun and Moon, the fairytale beauty of a star-studded sky, the symbolism of constellations: the creations combine heavenly poetry with time calculation to arouse unique emotions by day and by night.
Since 2008, the Poetic Complications™ and Extraordinary Dials™ collections have welcomed new depictions of the universe, like the Midnight Planétarium watch and the Lady Arpels Zodiac models in 2014. Time passes in a spirit of poetry, lulled by the sweep of the planets and the shimmering light of the stars.
Exquisite timepieces from Van Cleef & Arpels will be exhibited for the first time in Bangkok at the ‘Poetry of Time’ exhibition in March 2018 at the Emporium Department Store