"The combination of the playfulness of a story, high jewellery, and haute horology is a keystone element for the creation of our watches."

While it is natural for brands with expertise in jewellery making to extend design and gem-setting techniques to their timepieces, Van Cleef & Arpels has added an edge of story-telling to the mix. Over the past 18 years, the brand has established and builtits Poetic Complications line, which, as the name suggests, lends a playful, romantic edge to its complications with animation that brings alive every dial, so much so that timekeeping almost tends to take a step back in them. In 2022, this was personified by the Lady Arpels Heures Florales watch, where the hours were told by counting the number of opened flowers on the dial, while the minutes were indicated on the side of the case. Last year, the brand unveiled Lady Féerie, in which the hands of a fairy point to the (retrograde) minutes while jumping hours appears in a window at 6 o’clock.

- PREETIKA MATHEW

This year, the Lady Arpels Brise d’Été watch had butterflies that serve as retrograde markers for hours and minutes; when the on-demand animation at eight is activated, their wings flutter, along with the movement of the flowers and stems on the dial.

Rainer Bernard, head of research and development for watchmaking, joined Van Cleef & Arpels in 2011 and, today, is responsible for making key contributions to both the watchmaking business and the development of automata at Van Cleef & Arpels. WatchTime India spoke to Bernard about this idea of ‘Poetry of Time’ at Van Cleef & Arpels...

WatchTime India: Watches at Van Cleef & Arpels blend a playfulness and romanticism with haute horology, a combination not seen often. Where does this idea stem from?