Van Cleef & Arpels: Lady Arpels Collection Proves Brand’s Artisanal Strength
Earlier this year, Van Cleef & Arpels introduced several new timepieces that uphold the maison’s long-standing skills in the field of highly technical yet stunningly crafted jewellery watches. We decided to take a closer look at some of the brand’s imaginative new Lady Arpels models, including the Lady Arpels Casse-Noisette, Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté, and the Lady Arpels Nuit Enchanté. Combining tradition and innovation, the timepieces’ extraordinary dials collectively showcase Van Cleef’s supreme level of craftsmanship, from the art of jewellery and enamelling to horological savoir-faire.
Lady Arpels Casse-Noisette: An ornate aesthetic masterpiece
The Lady Arpels Casse-Noisette draws inspiration from The Nutcracker, the celebrated ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Marius Petipa. Every bit a high jewellery piece, rose-cut diamonds constitute the ballerina and her prince’s faces. Numerous other precious stones make an appearance across the opulent dial, including coloured sapphires, blue tourmalines, onyx, sugilite, and lapis lazuli.
An array of artisan skills
Notably, no less than 70 different colours, finishes, and enamelling techniques are present on this one dial. One particular aesthetic to admire alongside the miniature painting are the candies in relief, which make use of Van Cleef & Arpels’ special sealed enamel process. This technique requires great expertise. It involves an extremely precise fusion process, starting with a cold oven and followed by a defined temperature curve for about twelve hours, with several tiered rises and falls.
Facts and figures
The sizeable 41 mm white-gold case of the Lady Arpels Casse-Noisette goes a step further with the addition of sumptuously round diamonds on the bezel. Meanwhile, on the caseback, Van Cleef & Arpels’ artisans carefully hand-engrave the white-gold case with a winter scene, conjuring up a frosty landscape of fir trees and snowflakes. Inside ticks the manual-winding movement Q474, with a 40 hour power reserve. As mentioned, the ornate timepiece is a limited edition of only three pieces.
Lady Arpels Nuit Enchanté: A dreamy feast for the eyes
By contrast, the Lady Arpels Nuit Enchantée watch by Van Cleef & Arpels captures a fairy in repose within a moonlit crystal cave. The fairy, sculpted from white gold, rests amidst a flowerbed of sapphires in pink and purple hues, evoking the cave walls. The watch sets the scene against a glimmering grisaille enamel sky, adorned with the moon and stars. Her wings, crafted in pearlescent glitter plique-à-jour enamel, symbolise the beauty and power of nature. On the lower part of the dial, yellow sapphire-set flowers appear in façonné enamel. The back of the case continues the ethereal narrative, depicting the serene fairy enchanted by the night sky through several intricate engraving and polishing techniques.
Carefully curated
Once again, this model epitomises Van Cleef & Arpels’ tradition of craftsmanship. Prior to assembly, the maison’s craftsmen carefully select and cut gemstones to meet the highest standards of shape and color, in order to preserve the natural ruggedness of the cave-inspired sapphires.
A special subdial
Artistry aside, the watch houses a manual-winding mechanical movement that offers only hour and minutes. The wearer can read the time via a rock crystal subdial with rose-gold hour markers at 3 o’clock. The timepiece comes on an interchangeable purple alligator leather strap.
Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté: Exquisite craftsmanship and design
This brings us to its daytime sibling, the Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté. This limited métiers d’art timepiece, restricted to just eight pieces, once again showcases the maison’s fervent dedication to artistry and precision.
Glowing suns and turquoise skies
The Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté watch features a 41 mm case made from rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold. Like its sibling, the matching white-gold bezel sparkles with round diamonds.
The dial is also a work of art. It is crafted from distinctive turquoise marquetry and decorated with an 18-carat yellow gold sun set with round diamonds in a lifted setting. Radiating from the centre, it has been carefully design to create added depth and brilliance. In addition, Van Cleef’s artisans accent the sun using round yellow sapphires, spessartite garnets, and round diamonds. Once again, this shining subdial at 3 o’clock also provides hours and minutes.
Enchanting details
A rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold fairy, adorned with a rose-cut diamond and plique-à-jour enamel wings, hovers above the scene. Van Cleef’s artisans craft the leaves, made from rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold, using expertly applied plique-à-jour enamel and setting techniques. Yellow sapphires and façonné enamel flowers further enhance this enchanting watch’s dial.
Each stone used in the watch is unique. Subtle variations in colour and features add to the exclusivity of each piece. The watch includes 308 diamonds totaling 5.69 carats, 94 sapphires totalling 1.0 carat, 56 spessartites totalling 0.32 carat, and 13 turquoise stones.
Technical excellence: The movement
Just like the Lady Arpels Casse-Noisette, this watch uses the mechanical manual-winding movement (Q474), offering a 38-hour power reserve. The timepiece is water-resistant up to 30 meters, ensuring both beauty as well as a good dose of functionality.
Finally, the watch comes with a shiny blue jean interchangeable alligator strap and a rhodium-plated 18-carat white-gold pin buckle set with round diamonds. A second complimentary interchangeable strap is also on offer upon making the purchase. Last but not least, these watches come in a handsome 150mm x 200mm x 118mm sycamore wooden cabinet. Prices are available upon request.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Porsche 963 celebrates the connection between the two brands and motorsport. The watch is inspired by the Porsche 963, a hybrid sports car renowned in the motorsport world for its performance and technology. This shows in the design elements of the watch, which echo the race car's aesthetics. For…
At the British Museum in London, not too far along from hallowed halls housing Egyptian mummies and Ancient Greek amphoras, there is a Clocks and Watches Room, with artefacts dating from 1300 AD to the present. From decorative domestic clocks to marine chronometers, curators strive to chronicle the story of timekeeping within a few square…
If the name Singer sounds familiar to you, you probably know it from the Singer Vehicle Design, the brand that restores Porsche 911 sportscars to perfection. Of course there are also the nostalgic Singer sewing machines we have in mind, but they have nothing in common. Rob Dickinson is the founder and creative director of…
Charles A. Lindberg might have been the most prominent pilot, who trusted the know-how of watch brand Longines in the 1930s, which earned reputation in the field of aviation already from the very start. Their pilot watches distinguished themselves due to the rotating inner disc, which enabled the pilots to synchronize their watch with the…
Funnily enough, horses used to terrify me. They seemed erratic and volatile. Walking through my local park, the lush green Englischer Garten in Munich, I would veer away mistrustfully to avoid the police horses trotting through. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I was swayed. I spent some of the pandemic on…
It’s been another extraordinary year for us all, and the watch world is no exception. That is why the Swisswatches team sat down once more to comprise a list of our top watches of 2022. From anniversary models to world records, we are presenting you 24 special highlights to emerge from the ever-surprising Swiss watch…
When luxury steel sports watches with integrated bracelets suddenly appeared in the 1970s, it was not only Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe that caused a stir with their Royal Oak and Nautilus creations. Vacheron Constantin was also quick to recognize the trend – despite it not even being perceived as such at the time, but rather dismissed as outrageous…
The story of CORUMs Golden Bridge is exceptional. A young watchmaker from the idyllic town of La Caux-de-Fonds called Vincent Calabrese knocked on CORUMs door one day to introduce his newest invention: an unfamiliar looking baguette movement. He probably didn’t know that this will from then on be the movement of CORUMs flagship complication model…
Any Rolex fan who looks at the title of this article will immediately spot something new – the Rolex Submariner Date is now available in 41 mm for the first time. What's more, the new generation models – with seven new versions in total – are accompanied by a 41 mm No-Date Submariner (Ref. 124060).…
Some watches simply command respect. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième is one such watch. The horology house's Reverso model is always sleek, suave, and attractive. This unconventional piece, however, takes high watchmaking to a whole new level. Area of expertise: The Reverso and complications Jaeger-LeCoultre is no stranger to creating complicated Reverso watches. The first…
Bronze was the first alloy to ever be used by humans. It was discovered in the Middle East around 3500 BC, hence the name that ensued soon after: the 'Bronze Age'. It seems that in the watch world at least, the Bronze Age is back (albeit without the pirates and invasions by nomadic tribes). There…
Victor Lance Vescovo is a special person in many ways. While visiting the Greek island of Mykonos for the 75th anniversary of the Omega Seamaster, Swisswatches met this titan of a man; slender as a whip, with a white beard and long white hair held scraped back with a hair tie, he looks like a…
The fifth LVMH Watch Week, which took place in Miami from January 28 to February 1, was proof of LVMH's ambition to become ever more influential in the watch sector, in which it is now the fourth largest power after Rolex, Richemont and the Swatch Group. To this end, the family-owned business is gearing up…