Lady Arpels Papillon Automate

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The Poetry of Time

Ever faithful to a poetic view of life, Van Cleef & Arpels has introduced a distinctive dimension to the field of watchmaking: that of dreams and emotion. The wonders of the watchmaker’s craft – accomplished in the workshops of Switzerland – are used to bring a story to life on the dial. To express these values and the themes that are so unique to Van Cleef & Arpels, the Maison has employed master watchmakers and traditional craft skills. Lapidaries, enamelers, engravers and stone-setters have used their ancestral savoir-faire to embellish complication watches and exceptional dials. Van Cleef & Arpels draws from its enchanted world to depict a moment of grace, luck or beauty with each creation, offering a dreamlike perspective on the passage of time.

Poetic Complications

To celebrate its centenary in 2006, Van Cleef & Arpels imagined a watch in which the hours would slip by in step with the seasons. The Poetic Complications collection – a new way of viewing time – was born. Each new model combines creative inventiveness with a sense of wonder. Retrograde, 24-hour, Quantième de saison, 5-minute Repeater or Planétarium movements enable time to be measured by a stroll through Paris, a starry night sky, the path of planets, a flutter of butterflies or a lovers’ meeting. Beyond their technical prowess, these intricate mechanisms offer precious moments of emotion, marked by the imagination of Van Cleef & Arpels.

Lady Arpels™ Papillon Automate watch