he Parisian High Jewellery and Watchmaking Maison Van Cleef & Arpels occupies a singular position in contemporary horology. Effortlessly dissolving the traditional boundaries between métiers d’art and mechanical innovation, the Maison has, over time, cultivated a body of work of remarkable inventiveness, nourished by the timeless themes that have long inspired both jewellery and watchmaking: nature, astronomy, love, as well as fairies, ballerinas and the world of couture.

Thus, scenes of lovers meeting upon a bridge, of multicoloured blossoms or of graceful butterflies give life to a constellation of creations distinguished by their singular approach to time display. Known as “Poetic Complications,” these timepieces are steadily winning over a new generation of collectors. In 2024, Van Cleef & Arpels was honoured with three Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards, bringing its total tally in recent years to fifteen - a true consecration.

Astronomical heritage

The Moon has long held pride of place in the storied history of Van Cleef & Arpels. As early as 1929, an elegant pocket watch revealed the phases of the moon. Numerous interpretations followed, including the Météore secret watch in 1950. This celestial complication has never ceased to inspire the Maison’s creators, culminating this year in the Midnight Jour Nuit Phase de Lune. Following in the footsteps of the Lady Arpels Jour Nuit, unveiled in 2008 and later enriched with two variations in 2024, this new 42 mm timepiece crystallises the latest advances of the Place Vendôme Maison. It captivates as much as it innovates.

1929 pocket watch

The first dial evokes a star-strewn night in shimmering shades of black, born of a collaboration with a Venetian artisan based on the fabled island of Murano. The production process of this new “aventurine” glass is as much that of a blacksmith as of a painter: a blend of blue and red pigments with silica, heated to extreme temperatures, forms an irregular block of glass nearly a metre in circumference. After a six-week cooling process, the ring of bricks encasing the block is shattered by hand, revealing a luminous material of exceptional depth.

Midnight Jour et Nuit Phase de Lune, at 6:10 pm

Clément Rousset

This initial dial is partially veiled by a guilloché mother-of-pearl overlay, painted in a subtle gradient from black to white. Its gently arched upper line may evoke the horizon. By day, the eye is irresistibly drawn to the upper dial, where a finely guilloché yellow gold sun radiates with dazzling intensity. By night, the Moon traces its majestic course over an immutable 29.5-day cycle, revealed through an underlying disc in natural mother-of-pearl. On the reverse, the Earth - encircled by three planets and scattered stars - is delicately painted upon a sapphire crystal overlooking the oscillating weight. The engraved white gold décor faithfully echoes the lunar surface, with its craters and ridges.

Midnight Jour et Nuit Phase de Lune, at 10:10 pm

Clément Rousset

The Maison’s engineers reserve one final flourish: by pressing a pusher at seven o’clock, the disc depicting the Sun and Moon completes a full rotation within seconds before returning to its original position. This technical tour de force allows one to admire, in an instant, the refined beauty of both celestial bodies. It relies on a sophisticated system of two differentials and twin gear trains. Each activation engages a lever that drives a non-circular wheel linked to the disc’s motion. Entirely autonomous, this animation draws no energy from the primary timekeeping train. It reveals every detail of the Sun and Moon at any moment - even when partially concealed by the overlay.

Time zone acrobatics

And as if one marvel were not enough, Van Cleef & Arpels introduces a second Midnight creation this year, whose automatic calibre combines jumping hours, retrograde minutes and a second time zone: the Midnight Heure d’ici et Heure d’ailleurs. Adapted from the Pierre Arpels Heure d’ici et Heure d’ailleurs (2014), originally conceived by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht (Agenhor), this watch features a rose gold case in a universally elegant 38 mm format. The warm amber-brown tones of the dial are elevated by a stamped enamel décor bearing a monogram inspired by that of the Maison. The “Heure d’ici,” or local time, is displayed on a disc at eleven o’clock.

The Midnight Heure d’ici et Heure d’ailleurs

Opposite, at five o’clock, a second time zone emerges. The minute display initially appears asymmetrical - yet this impression is deceptive. The sixty-minute scale is concentrated on the left half of the dial. Upon reaching the end of its course, precisely at sixty minutes, the hand sweeps in a graceful arc back to the base of the dial before continuing its journey. Retrograde in name, yet strikingly contemporary in spirit.

Mechanical trompe-l’œil

At Van Cleef & Arpels, the boundary between jewellery and watchmaking is often exquisitely blurred. Precious stones adorn cases and dials alike, as setters and watchmakers work in concert to bring singular creations to life. More rare still are jewellery pieces that conceal a watch in a playful trompe-l’œil. Such is the case with the Ludo Secret, first unveiled in 1949 and reinterpreted this year.

The Ludo Secret Watch, 1948 sketch, Van Cleef & Arpels archives

At first glance, the Ludo Secret appears as a bracelet composed of seven rows of meticulously assembled links. Each link resembles a small brick of mirror-polished yellow gold. Carefully articulated by hand, these golden elements form a supple, woven-like structure upon the wrist. Two flat halos set with sapphires trace the outline of a figure eight at the centre of the bracelet.

The enchantment reveals itself when thumb and forefinger gently press the two outer elements. At the heart of the bracelet, twin panels open to unveil a mother-of-pearl dial indicating the hours and minutes. The final flourish: a baguette-cut sapphire at twelve o’clock lends a luminous accent to the composition.

Iconic Dials

Van Cleef & Arpels has long held the decorative arts in the highest esteem. Gem-setting lies at the very heart of its savoir-faire. The Maison also maintains dedicated workshops for enamelling, engraving and guilloché. An in-house engraving school trains apprentices over four years, culminating in the Swiss Federal VET Diploma (CFC) awarded in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Another internal school is devoted to the art of enamel - an invaluable asset for these demanding crafts.

Lady Retrouvailles Célestes

Clément Rousset

Within this rich context, the Maison regularly unveils creations from its “Extraordinary Dials” collection. This year, the legend of Vega and Altair - two mythical figures from Asian folklore - serves as the inspiration for two timepieces in which champlevé enamel, gem-set plique-à-jour enamel and engraving converge: the Lady Rencontre Céleste and the Lady Retrouvailles Célestes. This remarkable fusion of ancestral techniques and innovative processes - such as gem-set plique-à-jour enamel, an exclusive Maison patent - attests to a mastery of exceptional breadth.

Lady Rencontre Céleste

Clément Rousset

The jewel that tells time

With its discreet 23 mm case, the latest Perlée watch affirms its identity as a true piece of jewellery. Animated by a quartz movement, it draws its charm from a double row of white gold beads delicately set around the case.

One can almost sense the infinite patience and precision of the setter, composing a silent, captivating harmony. The aventurine glass dial, with its deep blue hues, reveals a radiant sunburst guilloché pattern.

The ensemble exudes an ineffable grace, further enhanced by a diamond-set inner bezel. It is easy to imagine it gracing the wrist of a ballet dancer.

The return of spring

To celebrate the arrival of spring, Van Cleef & Arpels unveils a new “Poetic Complication”: the Lady Lucky Spring Butterfly, presented in March 2026. A butterfly with delicately enamelled wings appears to court three plum blossoms in white mother-of-pearl, each encircled by a fine row of yellow gold beads - an unmistakable Maison signature.

Lady Lucky Spring Butterfly

Yet its path is anything but incidental. One of its wings indicates the passing minutes through a complex retrograde mechanism.

The jumping hours are revealed within a lily-of-the-valley bud, its mother-of-pearl disc echoing that of the plum blossoms. The dial, rendered in a deep cobalt hue, forms a poetic backdrop, enhanced by a traditional sunburst guilloché motif, all set upon a mother-of-pearl base.

Epilogue

The 2026 creations of Van Cleef & Arpels majestically reaffirm the singular identity of the Parisian jeweller and watchmaker. Over the years, the Maison has charted its own course within a highly competitive industry, restoring the decorative arts to their rightful place and elevating them beyond mere curiosities.

In doing so, it breathes new life into the rich world of craftsmanship and embraces its role as a leading voice in a vision of watchmaking that is at once poetic, magical and radiant.

Let us leave the final word to art historian Alba Cappellieri, author of Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love (Skira, 2019), who captures the essence of the Maison’s enduring inspiration: “Ephemeral and eternal, fragile and immortal, nature runs through the history of art and surpasses all other sources of inspiration.”