Few timepieces as Van Cleef & Arpels‘ Poetic Complications tell stories so mesmerisingly. As a watch and jewellery house, its foundation is based on creating fantastical tableaus through artistry, mechanical expertise, and innovation, resulting in watches as a “Poetry of Time”.
The Lady Arpels Brise d’Été is a recent example of this savoir faire. Meaning “summer breeze” in French, the 38-mm white gold watch bewitches with a dial that captures the freshness of a warm summer morning through multiple artisanal skills.
Using vallonné or undulating enamel, a process characterised by its domed effect, where the base metal is first shaped into curves before the enamel is applied, the flowers gain dimensionality. An artist conscientiously applies every shade of blue with a marten-hair brush, starting at the lightest shade, to create the delicate blue gradations of the petals. Adding to the complexity of the process, each hue requires its own firing procedure.
Within the flowers shimmer spessartite garnet pistils, complemented by champlevé enamel leaves set with tsavorite garnets. A plique-à-jour technique creates the two blades of grass in the background. This technique mimics stained glass by filling metal cells with enamel and firing them without a backing, creating a translucent appearance. Additionally, this technique is applied to the two butterflies on the matte mother-of-pearl dial, whose yellow and blue hues indicate the AM and PM hours.
Pushing the 8 o’clock button causes the butterflies to fly around the dial, while three smaller flowers sway. In an impressively lifelike animation, the flowers’ movements are not strictly synchronised.
Hour indicators alternate between hand-painted numerals and diamond indices, while the bezel sparkles with brilliant-cut diamonds. The beauty continues on the back of the watch, with a circular sapphire crystal window displaying another hand-painted enamel decal and a view of the brilliant blue guilloche rotor. The rest of the caseback holds engravings of floral motifs and the brand name—a graceful alternative to the standard exhibition caseback.
The Lady Arpels Brise d’Été has a forest green alligator strap with a white gold buckle, but the single lug case features a quick-change mechanism for effortless strap swaps. Van Cleef & Arpels manages both its métiers d’art and watchmaking entirely in-house, with artistic work based in Paris and watchmaking in Geneva. It has made it a priority to preserve enamelling within its walls as it becomes increasingly rare. With the establishment of its métiers d’art workshops, the brand has enhanced the uniqueness of its creations.
Even within the confines of a watch case, the maison achieves painterly surfaces and sculptural forms through traditional techniques such as guilloché and plique-à-jour enamel. Additionally, it fosters innovation, enabling it to adapt to modern standards such as developing lead-free enamel formulas.
While Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetic Complications do tell the time (however obliquely) and weave a narrative, their real purpose is to communicate a dream shaped by time.
Discover more here.
