Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Van Cleef & Arpels

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Emblematic models

• PA 49

In 1949, Pierre Arpels created an ultra-thin watch for his own use, a watch distinguished by its sobriety and elegance. There was such a stir over his creation that he decided it should be produced for sale. Today, the PA49 retains its key signature twin central supports, while offering a number of variations of forms and dials. Available in white gold, yellow gold or stainless steel, the PA49 can be worn with a variety of leather and metal bands. Its new form, a bit larger but still ultra-thin, as well as its different dials and its mechanical mechanism, stay true to the spirit of the PA49 collection and emphasize its finesse and sophistication. In the extension of the PA 49, Van Cleef & Arpels, inspired by strong features of central attachment, combines it with two curved shapes in counterpoint of the characteristic central support, to create a timepiece of subtle and refined design for men: Monsieur Arpels collection.

• Cadenas

The Cadenas watch, inspired by a padlock, was created in 1935. With its remarkable clasp and snake-chain band, the watch soon became emblematic of the House. This timepiece combines creativity, functionality and formal beauty. In the first years of the last century, no elegant woman could look at her watch for the time. The Cadenas watch was thus designed as a bracelet of original design that had appearance of a watch only in the eyes of its wearer. Inspired by the Duchess of Windsor, it has become a timeless addition to the van Cleef & Arpels collection.

• Alhambra Vintage

For Van Cleef & Arpels, form is above all a signature, as when its stylized cloverleaf created in 1974 became an icon in the Jewellery world. This version is true to the original, but two golden hands and a Swiss movement make this a timepiece for any moment of the day or night. It is sophisticated yet playful, and always eminently feminine.

• Secret

For Van Cleef & Arpels, a mechanism is not just a practical feature of a watch. It can also involve an ingenious secret and require a particular gesture. The Secret watch, an outstanding example of Van Cleef & Arpels’ creativity, hides time away from prying eyes in a precious secret drawer. Pull a tiny pendant in the shape of the Van Cleef & Arpels logo, and the case slides open to reveal a mother-of-pearl dial.

• Lady Arpels Centenaire

For its centenary, Van Cleef & Arpels dreamed up a timepiece of exception, designed as the embodiment of its technical know-how, and a worthy celebration of its design skills.
The originality of the concept stems from a unique and extraordinarily complex mechanism, which links timekeeping to a display of the seasons. With Lady Arpels Centenaire, mechanical complexity is carried into a new dimension of dreams and poetry.
To celebrate this centenary of glamour and excellence, only 100 pieces, each one numbered individually, have been created in the faithful tradition of the Van Cleef & Arpels art.

• Lady Arpels Féerie

Imagine an enchanted world where time was determined by a wondrous creature, with the touch of her magic wand.
The magical world of Van Cleef & Arpels has made such a thing possible. Nature is a major source of inspiration for the House, a natural world that is dazzling and magical, full of delicate and whimsical creatures such as butterflies, dragonflies and birds of paradise. In the centre of this enchanted universe is the Fairy, symbol of a femininity which is both playful and sensual.
In 2005, the House created a dazzling tribute to fairies with the high jewellery A Midsummer’s night dream collection.
Impish and playful fairies cast their spells, making and breaking ties forged from desire … and become brooches with diamond faces.
A « fairytale watch »
Van Cleef & Arpels, bringing together its jeweller’s creativity and imagination and its watch-making know how has created a magical and truly exceptional watch: the Lady Arpels Féerie. On the dial of the Féerie watch sits a delicate fairy or “time goddess”: modelled on the Midsummer’s night dream fairy clip, her wings and body are entirely set with round diamonds and the perfect oval of her face is represented by a pear shaped diamond. The enchanting novelty of the watch is the way the fairy’s magic wand, the instrument of her spellbinding powers, transforms into a watch hand that points to the hours and how one of her gossamer wings tells the minutes. The watch thus seems part of a fairytale where the main character plays the part of the time maker.
The extraordinary depth of the dial is due to the perspective effect of the hand engraved lozenge patterning or “guilloché” effect. This and the velvet-like intensity of the blue enamel give the impression that the fairy is floating amidst the evening sky.

• Midnight in Paris

Universe on your wrist Who has never dreamt while looking to the stars? Who has not experienced an exceptional moment under Paris sky?
With its Midnight in Paris watch, Van Cleef & Arpels enables collectors, wherever they are in the world, to look at the exact position of the stars in the Paris sky.
A poetic complication High Watchmaking movement complications traditionally focus on attaining the utmost precision. With the Midnight in Paris watch, the mechanical complication moves into another dimension, that of dreams and poetry.
The movement makes the stars disc rotates, almost imperceptibly through a 365 day cycle. Each day, a new constellations map gradually reveals itself to the eye. When you open the clasp on the back of the case, you could see the movement through a sapphire crystal, revealing the full beauty and complexity of its parts, along with a calendar that is adjusted using a wheel on the case back.
Exceptional materials Stars landed on the night blue aventurine dial.
On the back of the Midnight in Paris watch, the calendar is set with real meteorite. Indeed, meteorites are the only known physical material containing information that explains the creation of the elements of the solar system.Thus, wearing the Midnight in Paris watch is such as having a piece of universe on the wrist.

• Tourbillon Cadran Unique Colibri

The Colibri or Hummingbird motif The history of Van Cleef & Arpels is intimately associated with its extraordinary jeweller’s skill and know-how. Thus, to pay tribute to this precious know-how, the firm has used a museum piece as the inspiration to create the Colibri (hummingbird) dial. Colibri box, 1938
This box is decorated with a hummingbird in Mystery Setting sapphires, flowers in Mystery Setting rubies, red gold branches and leaves in mat green gold. Loyal to the House’s past, Van Cleef & Arpels has innovated by adapting its goldsmithing expertise to the requirements for creating this amazing watch dial. An inventive and skilful spirit has driven a sense of creativity renewed time and again.

Go to Van Cleef & Arpels website, horological section