van cleef & arpels: creators of the most beautiful watches in the world

Midnight Planetarium Poetic Complication

The Van Cleef & Arpels line of watches has awed me for some time now, and with each new collection, my obsession only grows. I was lucky enough to view their showroom at Harrod's in London this summer; I always have to remind myself that they actually produce fantastic jewellery as well as watches, but for me, the watches take centre stage. There is nothing on Earth like them.          

For example, the watch on the left is the Midnight Planetarium Poetic Complication watch, which  displays the planets of the solar system as they orbit the Sun. Each of the planets rotate exactly as they do in their actual orbits: this means that it will take nearly thirty years for Saturn to make one round of the dial! The time of day on Earth is shown by a shooting star on the edge of dial. This masterpiece costs $245,000-330,000 (depending on whether you want diamonds or not), so start saving now..... 

  

Van Cleef & Arpels was founded in 1895 in Paris and is known for its whimsical use of precious stones in fine jewellery and watches. They've been producing some of the most imaginative wearable works of art possible for more than a hundred years. They're also known for perfecting the 'Mystery Setting' technique, where individual stones are hand grooved to fit into a mesh of gold or platinum (rather than prongs). To me, it simply has to be magic, because I can't understand how human hands can produce things this beautiful.

Below are a few of my favourite individual watches and collections. You'll see the Five Weeks in a Balloon watch, in which the hot air balloon's anchor swings around the dial to indicate the time; the Midnight in Paris watch, which displays the night sky in Paris; the Palais de la Chance collection (which was inspired by luck and the zodiac, as you will see); and the Polar Landscapes collection. There are many, many more, but I find these the most breathtaking.


This is a video describing the movement of the Poetic Wish watches, in which a young man and woman indicate the time of day by moving forward towards the Paris sky to make a wish.

So even though I may never be able to afford any of these (most cost around $100,000), I just can't help but feel awed that such beautiful miniature works of art can be made by hand. These little pieces have moved watch-making to a new, wondrous level, and as an artist, I find them so inspiring!

Last-Minute Christmas Gifts: 7 Etsy Shops for Tiny Jewelry

Fawn and Rose

• Elephantine is one of my favorite jewelry stores.  The delicate, tiny-as-can-be style of everything from the charms to the details on a ring brings an ultra-feminine vibe to a modern look.

• Edor has a similar aesthetic but specializes in geometric designs.

• Jools sells jewelry with very unique and very quirky designs.  Here you can get everything from earrings shaped like PacMan to a gold Shetland sheepdog-shaped pendant.

• Contempo is a jewelry design company selling beautiful, colorful pieces predominantly featuring pyrite and freshwater pearls.

• Fawn and Rose is THE shop of choice for those seeking triangular necklaces and rings.

• Sevenstarz is a British company selling cute animal-shaped pendants in silver and gold.

• Matoto has absolutely adorable charms, from owls to giraffes to a tiny sterling silver paper airplane charm!

Edor

Matoto

raven + lily: empowering women worldwide

I just discovered a jewelry and accessories company called Raven + Lily, which sells some very beautiful, interesting pieces. The more interesting part of this company is how they operate: they employ marginalized women, providing them with sustainable economic opportunities, and their proceeds also fund healthcare and literacy programs for women and children in this community.

A lot of their jewelry is made in Ethiopia from melted bullet casings and recycled metals such as copper and brass. The women who handmake these pieces are HIV-positive women, a very marginalized group in Ethiopia. Due to its unique nature, much of the jewelry will antique over time.

Definitely check out their blog, which details their travels to the localities in which they've established all of these fantastic cooperatives.

They have clothing items as well - scarves and t-shirts. They also have accessories likes bags and journals. Their Uzma Travel Journals are handmade 100% recycled cotton paper and textiles by marginalized women in Northern India. Proceeds from this collection go to fund literacy programs for the women artisans and children in the community. They're absolutely beautiful, I've already nabbed a couple for Christmas gifts. I love fair trade shopping, and I love knowing that there's a story behind an item. Empowering women in poorer nations is a cause that remains particularly close to my heart. I truly believe that greater equality for women will mean a more peaceful planet; in fact, I recently wrote a paper for a class I'm taking (Cross-Cultural Psychology) in which I found a number of studies that illustrate how societies with strictly-enforced gender roles and sexism tend to have higher levels of male aggression and are more likely to dissolve into war.

Currently, the three regions in which R+L operates are northern India, Ethiopia, and Cambodia. They're a member of another organization I've never heard of, the Ethical Fashion Forum’s 500 Fellows around the globe, which is apparently "an exclusive group of 500 of the world’s foremost innovators and leaders in the fashion sector."