The flight of fairies and the dance of ballerinas which punctuates the Maison's creations since decades. Our watches welcomes them in enchanting sceneries, imbued with grace and delicateness.

The Maison reinvents the creation awarded in 2013 with the Lady’s Complication Prize at the Grand Prix de L’Horlogerie de Genève, with two new creations: the first in white gold and the other in pink gold. 

On the new models, the ballerina’s body is sculpted in relief in gold, while her headdress, face, bust and waist are suggested by diamonds. She stretches her arms out gracefully, above the veils of her tutu, which are superimposed with an effect of transparency. 

To reflect the full wonder of ballet, Van Cleef & Arpels recreated the three-dimensional tableau of an actual theater stage. Each piece features its own blend of stones and motifs, an allusion to the three movements of Jewels, the ballet created by Balanchine after meeting Claude Arpels. The Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Émeraude watch displays green nuances, while the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Rubis timepiece shines in elegant tones of red. The Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant watch sparkles with intense white, blue and golden hues. On the upper crown of each creation, a precious stone reflects the color of the dial.

Respectively depicting a soloist going on stage and a group of dancers in a contemporary setting, these two watches evoke the excitement of Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s. Like true miniature tableaux combining precious and ornamental stones, these numbered editions offer a blend of contemporary lines, watchmaking savoir-faire and exceptional craftsmanship.

Like a protective muse, a fairy in a sapphire and diamond gown watches over Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetry of Time™. Her face, depicted by a diamond, forms a dazzling contrast with the bluish tones of the sky, in guilloché mother-of-pearl. The same tones adorn her translucent wings, crafted from a combination of plique-à-jour and grisaille enamel.

Learn more about the art of enamel

Seated on a cloud of iridescent white mother-of-pearl, this feminine figure points out the minutes with her magic wand; meanwhile, the Moon harbors the passing hours in a window of mother-of-pearl, haloed by a gentle glow. On the back of the watch, the visible oscillating weight is engraved with a full Moon in a star-studded sky.

The dial of the Lady Arpels Féerie watch shows a playful and graceful fairy. A pear-cut diamond lights up her face. Her wings and body are set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Her magic wand transforms into the hour hand. One of her wings indicates the minutes. Perched on a piece of stardust, the fairy is ready to fly off into a deep blue enamel sky.

These feminine figures cast a benevolent eye over Van Cleef & Arpels’ flowered garden. The time can be read against a poetic scene, which is echoed by a lucky charm that rotates delicately around the case. Each detail bears witness to the Maison’s attachment to craft skills, which are here deftly combined.

An Ondine fairy, gracefully sitting on a water lily, contemplates the sun and the moon alternating with each other in the sky. From dawn to dusk, a sky of painted mother-of-pearl setted with diamonds and yellow sapphires rotates to renew the scenery throughout the day.

The landscape of the Lady Arpels Jour Nuit Fée Ondine comes to life in the form of an automaton, made in collaboration with automaton maker François Junod. The highly complex mechanism – which animates various elements and also tells the time – gives pride of place to an ephemeral poetry: movement and lightness, the beauty of nature, the grace of a fairy waking from sleep and the nuances of precious stones and enamel.