Earlier in January, as Geneva’s winter air sharpened the senses, the maison welcomed a select group of journalists from across the globe to its Meyrin workshop. Behind glass doors—where its artisans sculpt dreams using micromechanics and precious materials—the brand unveiled its latest creations, kicking off another year of storytelling.
“Love is in the air,” teased CEO Catherine Renier, an apt sentiment for a maison built on romance. Embodying this spirit most accurately is the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux, first launched in 2010 and featuring a poetic complication in which two figurines inch towards a kiss at noon and midnight.
With Lady Arpels Bals des Amoureux Automate, the centrepiece of Watches & Wonders 2025, the story deepens. Additionally, Van Cleef & Arpels reveals new colour variations of Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux, two new Extraordinary Objects, and two stunning Precious Moments timepieces—all testaments to its firm belief that time should be as beautiful as the moment it holds.
Lady Arpels Bals des Amoureux
The Lady Arpels Bals des Amoureux Automate reimagines the lovers’ rendezvous in a new setting: beneath the lantern-lit charm of a guinguette, one of many open-air dance cafes that once lined the outskirts of 19th-century Paris. At noon and midnight, an automaton movement brings the pair together for a kiss, a signature moment of the collection. The wearer can relive this moment on demand with the swift push of a button.
While the romance continues, the mechanics have evolved. Its movement took four years to develop, marking a significant step forward. The original Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux movement was created in collaboration with Agenhor, a long-time partner of the house. This new calibre, however, was entirely developed in-house, demonstrating the company’s growing technical expertise. The transition, of course, was a natural result of years of collaboration and refinement.
In the new Lady Arpels Bals des Amoureux, the couple’s embrace unfolds gradually as they lean in, their hands lowering naturally before they withdraw. They had to be articulated in three different ways to achieve this—an advancement that adds nuance to the animation. Beyond the lovers’ movements, a second layer of motion adds depth: two wandering stars trace an elegant arc across the sky, moving in a synchronised double retrograde dance.
For Rainer Bernard, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Head of Research and Development for Watchmaking, the challenge was balancing micromechanics and artistry. Articulating the lovers might seem as simple as adding a joint, but the reality is far more complicated. Their movements needed to be precise and controlled enough to avoid jerkiness.
Every detail had to be perfected, all while working within the power reserve. Bernard compares the process to building a house—if the foundation isn’t right, nothing else will work. “You might stop after a while and say, ‘Okay, it’s fine’. But it can’t be fine. It has to be perfect,” he emphasises.
Surprisingly, the Lady Arpels Bals des Amoureux Automate requires only four additional components over its predecessor, despite its more sophisticated movement. The case size remains the same, but it’s slightly slimmer—a deliberate choice reflecting the maison’s pursuit of perfection. “We spent a lot of time thinking about how to position the pieces,” Bernard adds. “When you get that right, you can create something truly special. The slimness you see is the result of this architectural reflection.”
Everything comes to life through layers of craftsmanship. Five levels of depth create a sense of dimension, while grisaille and coloured grisaille enamel paint the dial in the cinematic glow of a Parisian night. Under flickering lanterns, handcrafted white gold cobblestones echo the romance of the city’s streets. Then, when you turn the watch over, the story continues. An enamel decal and sapphire glass engraving depict the couple mid-dance as a discreet encore privy to the wearer.
Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux
Van Cleef & Arpels’ Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux was the first Poetic Complications watch to win at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, proving that emotion is as important as precision. In a double retrograde movement, the two lovers meet atop a Parisian bridge at noon and midnight, holding their embrace for three fleeting minutes before parting once more.
In 2019, it introduced an on-demand animation, allowing wearers to reunite the lovers at the press of a button for a swift, 10-second kiss. In the same year, the collection expanded with four high-jewellery editions evoking the four seasons as well as a daylight variation.
This was also the maison’s first use of coloured grisaille enamel, layering delicate pastel tones over a white base to create luminous, dreamlike backgrounds. The original white gold model, on the other hand, utilised a traditional grisaille technique dating back to the 16th-century, where white enamel was applied to a dark base to achieve rich monochromatic shading.
This year, four newest gem-set editions capture different times of day with delicate gradient colours—dawn, morning, dusk, and moonlight. In the foreground, sculpted gold bridges add depth, while enamel decals on the caseback extend the story. With each timepiece comes a fully gem-set bracelet with a meshing system designed especially for comfort.
Extraordinary Objects
If you recall, Van Cleef & Arpels added a new dimension to its watchmaking in 2017 with the Automate Fée Ondine—a marvel of mechanics and metiers d’art. Seven years in the making, this table clock brought a dreamlike tableau to life: a fairy stirring from slumber atop a rippling lily pad as a lotus blossom unfurls, revealing a jewelled butterfly in motion.
In these automata, high jewellery craftsmanship is combined with precision mechanics. To realise its artistic vision, these feats of micromechanics and storytelling were made in collaboration with renowned Swiss automaton maker François Junod.
This year, the maison reveals a new variant of the Planetarium Automaton, weighing 100kg and featuring a custom-blown diameter glass dome measuring 53 cm. Inside, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn move at their actual celestial speeds; Mercury takes 88 days to complete its orbit, while Saturn takes 29.5 years.
With the push of a button, the scene transforms. A rose gold shooting star with diamonds and Mystery Set rubies marks the time across the 24-hour dial. As it moves, the planets follow in a graceful ballet around a resplendent Sun. While rose gold motifs, spessartite garnets, yellow sapphires, and diamonds set on over 500 gold stems adorn its core, a trembler mechanism makes the Sun quiver with the slightest touch, intensifying its fiery brilliance.
All this unfolds to a bespoke 15-bell crystalline melody composed by a Swiss bell specialist, an auditory signature as poetic as the maison’s style. Van Cleef & Arpels also unveiled the Naissance de l’Amour, where Cupid takes centre stage.
A 30-cm tall automaton, it captures the tenderness of emotion. Sculpted in white, rose, and yellow gold, Cupid emerges from a basket of lacquered feathers, diamonds glinting on his form. He rises gracefully on a rose gold column, fluttering his plaque-a-jour enamel wings before retreating. As he ascends, a carillon melody adds to the enchantment.
Every other detail is also crafted with care. For example, an iron eye base with gold streaks echos the celestial theme, while a petrified palmwood bowl by the house cradles a feathered basket, its texture revealed by expert cuts and polishes. This piece is also notable for its rotation ring, which indicates the time with diamond-tipped feathers held by a bow entirely paved in diamonds.
Precious Moments
With its bold design and timeless appeal, the Van Cleef & Arpels Cadenas watch is as popular today as it was when it was created in 1935, making it the oldest watch in the maison’s collection. Featuring sleek, padlock-inspired lines and a double snake chain around the wrist, this piece has an Art Deco look. Additionally, a cleverly designed angled dial makes checking the time discreet.
The Cadenas has also evolved to reflect current trends. Sapphires and rubies were added to the original solid yellow gold design in 1936, diamonds in 1938, and emeralds in 1943. A platinum variant catered to the rise of white jewellery, while leather bracelets offered a more relaxed alternative.
Ninety years later, Van Cleef & Arpels’ new Cadenas is nothing short of breathtaking. A yellow gold bracelet meets a case paved with snow-set diamonds and edged with princess-cut sapphires. In keeping with this brilliance, the clasp is lined with square-cut sapphires. A white gold dial, set with diamonds, completes the glittering composition.
True to Marcel Duchamp’s “ready-made” philosophy, the watch turns a simple padlock into stunning jewellery. There is a Surrealistic spirit in it, and it reflects a rule of its time—women were to remain above the passing of hours.
Finally, the Ruban Mysterieux watch, another new addition to the Precious Moments series, wraps around the wrist like silk. At its core, a 3.72-ct oval-cut DIF diamond hovers over the dial, revealing time like a crystal veil. Under it, a hand-wound mechanical movement beats with quiet precision.
Mystery Set sapphires and emeralds weave through the design, their seamless glow a triumph of Van Cleef & Arpels’ 1933 invention. The gold rails disappear beneath the gemstones, leaving only a velvety shimmer—an illusion of fluidity, a masterpiece of savoir-faire.
