Carl F. Bucherer launches a new limited edition ladies timepiece, the Alacria Fancy Diva White, with an exquisite fairy tale to seduce the romantics among us. Are you sitting comfortably? Once upon a time...



In a kingdom, beyond the reaches of you or I, where snow covers the mountains all year round and the raw cold frost gnaws away at the sparse rock faces every day, there lives a queen. She rules the wind, the air, and the warming sunrays. Her daughter’s gift to mankind is the pure, white winter snow. And whenever she looked at her daughter, the queen’s heart was filled with both joy and sorrow. Her charming beauty was enhanced by her crystal eyes, and her voice would echo among the icicles, like the pealing of fine bells. Everything about her was made of ice and her heart needed the icy cold of winter to live on, and so it was always cold in the land of the queen. Many years passed and the queen became hopeless that her wonderful daughter would never be able to experience the warmth that she knew existed.



Until one day, winter had just hardly begun, when something strange happened. A storm was raging out over the village where the princess had just deposited the first snow. A man was walking alone, unwaveringly along a path away from the houses, in the thick of the snowstorm which was swirling around him. Curious, she decided to follow him, leading them both under the protection of a soaring mountain and sheltered from the raging storm.



Only the smallest snowflakes found their way into this quiet place. Amazed, the princess watched how the young man stretched out his arms and laid back his head. As the smallest and finest snowflakes began falling gently around him, caressing him, before they finally melted against his warm skin, something peculiar happened. She lay there, confused by the strange and unfamiliar feelings that started to well up inside her, when all of a sudden the young man opened his eyes and saw the princess before him. Suddenly a smile spread over his face. Afraid, she fled back to her mother’s ice palace. Overwhelmed by her thoughts and the peculiar feeling in her breast, she ran to her mother. “My child,†she said, “what you felt in your heart was his enthusiasm for the dance of the first snowflakes.†But she could not believe that, for when he had looked at her, it was as though something had shattered inside her. She had seen any number of people frolicking in the snow, making snowballs and snowflakes in various shapes, running through them and making footprints, but this was different. Once again dumbfounded by a strange feeling within, as if the ice that her heart was made from was about to shatter. At the same time she sensed a deep joy because she had never quite experienced such happiness and sadness together.



She then decided to go back to the mountain to look for the young man, but he had gone. So she remained there, lost in thought, until the next morning. As she arose from the huge rocky overhang, where she had lain throughout the night, the young man slowly appeared, wandering sadly around the place. Both stiffened as their eyes met. Slowly, as if the seconds it took them to recognize each other would last forever, they began walking towards each other, until they were just a few meters apart. Still thinking about what her mother said, she asked, “Why are you smiling?†He then moved a step closer and she stepped back. “Don’t be afraid!†he said, “It’s just that whenever the first snowflakes fell, I would always run out to find you. And now, at last, you are standing right in front of me, I’m so beset, I don’t know what to say, how can I persuade you to stay?†He reached out with one arm, but she recoiled. “Why do you want me to stay?†she asked him astounded. “Because I love you†, he said. Although these few words were said in just a whisper, their inner meaning reverberated loudly. Overcome with fear as he hesitatingly came towards her, feeling her heart in her breast beginning to pound loudly and irregularly, she once again ran away.
returning to the ice palace she withdrew to her room alone, and for days all you could hear from that direction were the sounds of her crying.



A trail of icy tears lined the way for the queen to follow, allowing her to find her daughter.
“How I would have liked to have spared you all this, my dear sweet daughter†, said the queen, as she saw her daughter’s heartache. Looking for help, the princess clung to her mother. “How is it that I can feel my heart all of a sudden?†she asked. The princess lay there looking desperately up at her mother, who was bending over to comfort her. “When I look at him, I feel so much joy, so why at the same time does it hurt so much?†Sighing, the queen took her daughter in her arms. “My child, love creates warmth in people’s hearts and even the coldest ice cannot resist. You must forget him, for the heat of his love could make your heart melt.†Her daughter stared at her in dismay, and no matter how much the queen tried to console her or cheer her up, she could not see past the pain in front of her.

So the weeks went by and for the first time people saw a winter without any snow, and the world sank into a sad grayness. Except for the princess, she noticed nothing.



Again and again, her thoughts of that strange young man who had confessed his love to her continued to unsettle her, and whenever she thought of him, her heart pounded gently, making her tremble. Finally, one day she knew that she no longer wanted to resist her ever more loudly beating heart.

And so she secretly revisited the mountain, where she first saw him. Slowly she drew nearer to the rocky overhang and discovered a forlorn figure lying collapsed at the foot of the rock face. Even before she got any closer, she knew it would be him, and for the first time she felt nothing but happiness in her heart. No ice shattered in her breast. It was the pure, unrestrained feeling of love that pervaded her whole being. She knelt down next to him and softly stroked his face; he nestled up to her, as if her hands were the little soft snowflakes towards which he had once stretched out. “You were waiting for me?†she breathed and he nodded, unable to say a word. “The whole time, in the cold?†she asked. His eyes closed again, but then a small smile formed softly on his lips. She leant over him and could just about hear his heart, which was beating so faintly.



“I love you too,†she whispered, before their lips touched in a warm, simple kiss. All her senses plunged into this contact and for the first time she knew she was experiencing complete love. She noticed that her increasingly warm heart was beating strongly against his freezing heart, and knew she would have no regrets.



The queen soon noticed that her daughter had left the palace. From afar, she saw the two intertwined bodies, and knew that her daughter had decided in favor of love.



Sadly, she gathered up the icy tears of the princess, knowing her daughter would never return. And although she felt the profound loss for her loved one, she suddenly could not help but feel the happiness for her daughter. And so she created a jewelry piece, a snow white watch, trimmed with the purest glittering diamonds she had ever seen. The sparkling reflections reminded her of her daughter’s shining crystal eyes, while its hands continued their untiring rhythmic rotation. It was as unique as her daughter, and its gentle ticking would forever remind her, that even the coldest heart needs only a little love to last forever.



Photos: Billy&Hells. Text: Britta Steffen/Press Factory Berlin. Concept and realization: Press Factory Berlin. Model Reni dressed in Andrea Schelling. Actor Rhon Diels dressed in Herr von Eden and Claudia Skoda. Styling: Heidi Plaetz. Hair/make-up: Gabrielle/Basics Berlin. Graphic design: Anja Lutz.

Source : Carl F. Bucherer

www.carl-f-bucherer.com

Contact: [email protected]
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