Since 2006 with the creation of Lady Arpels™ Centenaire watch, the Poetic Complications® collection has embodied Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetry of Time philosophy, which instills dreams and emotions into the art of watchmaking. Each project begins with a creative intention, bringing this distinctive vision to life. Over the years, the Maison’s stories have called for innovative complications, now developed and assembled in-house to set in motion the story inside each dial. They animate poetic scenes and animations drawing on the Maison’s sources of inspiration. Watchmakers, enamellers, engravers, lapidaries and stone-setters join their expertises to give rise to these timepieces.

Van Cleef & Arpels instills an exclusive dimension in the Poetic Complications collection : an element of dreams and emotions. The Maison draws from its history and its iconic sources of inspiration—enchanted nature, poetic astronomy, love stories, fairies and ballerinas—to depict a golden moment on each dial.

With the Poetic Complications collection, the watchmaking mastery developed by Van Cleef & Arpels combines precious materials and traditional savoir-faire to bring to life a tender story that enlivens every dial. Rotating discs or butterflies reveal the time of day amid a stroll through a flower-filled garden or a celestial reverie. Going beyond their technical features, these exceptional mechanisms offer precious moments of contemplation, rooted in the Maison's spirit.

"This focus on co-creation lies at the heart of our Poetic Complications collection : métiers d'art tell a story on the dial, while the technical mechanism -always invisible- brings the watch to life, showing the time as if by magic."

Rainer Bernard, Head of Watchmaking Research and Development at Van Cleef & Arpels

Sublimating the passage of time, the métiers d'art contribute to creating a wondrous universe right on the wrist. Going beyond time-honored methods, the Maison stands out for stimulating innovative enameling techniques.