Van Cleef & Arpels combines jewelry and watchmaking traditions

For the 2023 Watches and Wonders salon, Van Cleef & Arpels is bringing all of its expertise to bear on a unique vision of timekeeping. Blending different know-how, the Maison perpetuates and enriches its history of jewels that tell time with creations combining jewelry and watchmaking traditions. The jewelry watches from the Perlée and Alhambra collections unveil new combinations of meticulously selected gems, while the skills of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Workshops are on full display in the Ludo Secret and the À Cheval High Jewelry watches. Dials captivate the gaze with their re"ections or thanks to surprising and mesmerizing plays of hide and seek. At the crossroads of traditional craft skills and technical expertise that distinguishes the Maison’s Watchmaking Workshops in Geneva, the Lady Féerie watch reinvents itself in harmonious new colors to manifest Van Cleef & Arpels’ unique Poetry of Time. Three Extraordinary Objects complete this dive into the heart of rare skills, marrying craftsmanship with a quest for motion to enchant the passing hours. True creations of jewelry, while also enchanting timepieces, High Jewelry watches display the passing hours with a timeless sophistication. This year, Van Cleef & Arpels is devoting all of its jewelry-making expertise to its vision of the Poetry of Time. In the À Cheval collection, the mountings are "exible and scintillating, highlighting the beauty of diamonds and colored gems. Like a surprise, the watches of the Ludo Secret collection continue the tradition of mystery dear to the Maison. By cleverly hiding their dial, these elegant and inventive pieces allow their wearer to tell time with discretion, making every second a secret.

Secret creations celebrate the timeless elegance of one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature pieces: the Ludo bracelet. Created in 1934, this aesthetic was named after the nickname of Louis Arpels, one of the Maison’s founding members. Shaped like a belt – the fashion accessory for any daring woman in the 1930s – the Ludo pieces have enjoyed widespread popularity since their release. Van Cleef & Arpels highlights this iconic collection with a new size of watch and two combinations of materials. Rose gold marries with diamonds or pink sapphires, minutely set in the High Jewelry tradition of excellence. To compose these gemstone ensembles, the Maison’s gemologists gathered their expertise to pair diamonds of similar brilliance and pink sapphires of harmonious intensity. As in the original creation, the watches’ "exible, brick-pattern meshwork recalls a belt. Like a #nely woven fabric, the mesh links are carefully assembled by hand, one by one, to deliver optimal articulation and "exibility.