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!