Montre Ludo Secret

2023 WATCHES AND WONDERS

Van Cleef & Arpels

JEWELRY EXPERTISE AT THE SERVICE OF THE POETRY OF TIME 

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 reflections 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.

JEWELRY WATCHES

Culminating   on    the    wrist    or    hanging    from    the    neck, Van Cleef & Arpels precious watches combine jewelry know- how and watchmaking expertise to offer time an elegant setting. The pieces reinterpret the emblematic aesthetics of the Perlée and Alhambra collections in a bold and contemporary way, giving rise to new combinations of materials, carefully chosen for their color and quality. Depending on the creations, precious or ornamental stones and diamonds interact with gold, worked in delicate beads or radiant guilloché.

THE PERLÉE COLLECTION

- All the curves of golden beads -

Van Cleef & Arpels highlights the signature aesthetic of the Perlée collection through new timepiece variations. Five timeless models marry gentle curves with subtle details, watchmaking savoir-faire with jewelry- making inspiration to offer a contemporary take on jewelry that tells time.

In fluid lines, the watches bear a round shape bordered with a double row of golden beads displaying their side in mirror-polished rose gold or diamond-paved white gold. Under their rounded glass, the dials are adorned with a décor of pavé-set diamonds, or guilloché rose gold or mother-of pearl, each capturing light for an intense sparkle. A push- button behind the case sets the time and remains invisible while the watch is being worn.

Four of the five models have a 23mm diameter case, with the fifth being 30mm. Each creation comes with an interchangeable alligator strap, along with a choice of a second one from the collection. A jewelry bracelet, fully composed of articulated golden beads echoing the beaded contour of the case, is also offered in a jewelry watch spirit. It follows every wrist movement like a second skin, ensuring that the Perlée watches are comfortable to wear. The straps can be easily changed matching the wearer’s mood.

The diamonds set on these creations meet the highest quality criteria

– D to F for color and IF to VVS for clarity – in order to bring intense brilliance to the dial. A strict selection is also made by experts gemologists for the mother-of-pearl, whose delicate iridescence is enhanced by the guillochage.

- Precious dance -

Golden beads once again come together in a charming ballet, complementing the tones of precious or ornamental stones to adorn six jewelry secret watches. Inspired by the pocket watches that appeared in 17th-century Europe, these creations take the form of curved and colorful pendants. True pieces of jewelry, they are worn on a long necklace and accompany one’s silhouette. To check the time discreetly, all one must do is rotate the bejeweled motif to reveal the dial.

Three of these precious watches accent the brilliance of the signature beads with the intense hues of colored precious gems. Rubies respond to the tender nuances of rose gold, while sapphires and emeralds harmonize with the solar brilliance of yellow gold. First introduced in the collection on jewelry creations, these gems distinguish themselves by their intense color, demonstrating Van Cleef & Arpels’ attachment to precious stones. This commitment is also clear from the Maison’s strict and rigorous selection process for ornamental stones.

Three rare materials in the world of jewelry make their entrance in the Perlée collection, in the form of generous cabochons. Chalcedony, with its blue-grey to light-blue hues, offers a delicate translucency in regular striated bands. It is enhanced by the shine of white gold, whereas rose quartz – used for the first time in the collection – is known for its pastel color, here paired with rose gold. Set in yellow gold, sodalite draws its poetic allure from the depths of its translucent, violet-tinged blue, inhabited by irregular light veins. Each stone is chosen for its quality, the harmony of its nuances, and its brightly polished surface.

THE ALHAMBRA COLLECTION

- The time for luck -

“To be lucky, you have to believe in luck,” as Jacques Arpels liked to say. From its conception, the Alhambra collection – Van Cleef & Arpels’ token of luck – has lent itself to elegant interpretations depending on the material and the occasion. Today, a new Sweet Alhambra jewelry watch alternates gold and ornamental stone motifs around a dial featuring the collection’s emblematic four-lobe shape in larger dimensions.

It marries the gentle tones of rose gold to the warm hues of carnelian, a material dear to the Maison and appreciated for its bright color. A reddish-orange variety of agate, carnelian has been used to adorn jewelry since Antiquity. For its collections, Van Cleef & Arpels mainly selects pieces with a deep and even color, and a highly polished surface. Once selected, the lapidaries carefully pair the carnelian motifs to compose harmonious sets. Thanks to a radiant guilloché, rose gold reveals shifting gleams; the eye is captivated as light plays in the subtle relief of a sunburst.

- The art of jewelry -

An iconic Van Cleef & Arpels design, the Alhambra collection reflects all the expertise of a High Jewelry Maison. From lapidaries to jewelers, from stone-setting to polishing, each piece requires the collaboration of a wide variety of skills. Faithful to the standards of the Maison, the carnelian motifs are meticulously cut and polished, before being carefully paired. As with the guilloché gold motifs, they take their place at the center of a beaded mount, a truly precious setting.

These golden contours are thoroughly reworked by jewelers, before the prongs – rounded for a gentler grip – are folded to hold the motifs delicately in place. A final stage of polishing accentuates the beauty of the ensemble. From selection to shaping to quality control, no fewer than fifteen steps are necessary to produce an iconic piece.

HIGH JEWELRY WATCHES

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 flexible 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.

THE LUDO SECRET COLLECTION

Introducing two novelties among   the   High   Jewelry   watches,   the Ludo 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’ flexible, brick-pattern meshwork recalls a belt. Like a finely woven fabric, the mesh links are carefully assembled by hand, one by one, to deliver optimal articulation and flexibility.

In the tradition of secret watches so dear to Van Cleef & Arpels, these novelties reveal their dial in guilloché white mother-of-pearl at the simultaneous press of the two motifs in diamonds or pink sapphires.

The Maison is also unveiling a unique new creation inspired by the 1941 Ludo Hexagone Macaron secret watch. The dial is hidden behind a motif adorned with Mystery Set emeralds, remarkable for its intense color effect and the complexity of its realization. Because of their delicacy, emeralds require particular attention when cutting and inserting the stones into the motif’s structure. Slightly rounded, this section complements the diamond-studded curves of two concentric arcs framing the case. For its part, the bracelet is composed of a meshwork of yellow-gold hexagons, punctuated with star-set emeralds.

The Ludo Secret watch sheds light on a signature savoir-faire of the Maison’s repertoire: the Mystery Set. This technique, requiring an extremely high level of precision and skill, consists of using golden rails to hold up precious gems carefully paired for color and meticulously cut for the creations. Once in position, the stones fit entirely over the setting, lending the surface a velvety brilliance. The level of technical expertise required to execute the Mystery Set is such that only a few lapidaries and master jewelers hold the secret.