Every year, in the course of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (or briefly, the GPHG), one model at all times stands out as a result of it wins so many awards: Van Cleef & Arpels. It won’t have been the title you anticipated; nonetheless, in the event you take a look at the sheer variety of awards it has received over time, it’s greater than spectacular (three within the 2024 GPHG alone). Whereas we have now scarcely coated the everyday excessive jewelry watches from Van Cleef & Arpels, the opening of a brand new boutique in Amsterdam was the proper second to be taught extra concerning the model. For this, I turned to Stéphanie Rault, European President of the Maison, to listen to about Van Cleef & Arpels’ watches and future plans.
Frank Geelen, MONOCHROME – I primarily know Van Cleef & Arpels as a jewelry model. If it wasn’t for the quite a few prizes Van Cleef & Arpels has received or the slightly spectacular Midnight Planetarium and the Woman Arpels Planetarium, each in collaboration with Christiaan van der Klaauw, I wouldn’t have related the model as a watch model. How would you describe Van Cleef & Arpels as a watch or jewelry model?
Stéphanie Rault, Van Cleef & Arpels – As you stated completely within the introduction, we’re a jewelry Maison which has been round for over 100 years. The tagline on all our promoting is Excessive Jewellery Maison, Place Vendôme, Paris. In order that’s actually the guts of who we’re. However having stated that, timepieces have at all times been a part of our historical past and patrimony because the very starting. I feel the primary watch was produced within the very early years of the Maison. So it’s a class that we have now at all times preserved and is necessary for us, however clearly not the principle a part of our enterprise. So, it’s a little bit of a distinct segment class for us.
The watches look slightly completely different from most different watch manufacturers, which makes me surprise concerning the design course of. How is that this dealt with at Van Cleef & Arpels?
Stéphanie – The timepieces universe inside Van Cleef & Arpels is dealt with in a really particular approach. We’ve got what we name the poetry of time. The angle is at all times to inform a narrative with poetic problems or extraordinary dials. We begin with a narrative after which see how we will match it in a dial and, clearly, all of the mechanics that go round and behind it. However it’s not the principle objective: the principle objective is telling the story.
As an example, considered one of our most emblematic timepieces is Poetry of Time Pont des Amoureux, a really poetic complication. The aim was to inform the story of a person and a girl who meet at midday, after which at midnight, they kiss on a bridge, and to make the mechanism work round that. It’s a retrograde motion; the girl signifies the hours, and the person signifies the minutes, they usually meet at midday and at midnight.
Then, our different timepieces are what we name jewels that inform time. In order that they appear to be jewelry, however they’re in actual fact watches, they usually have the identical aesthetic and id as our predominant jewelry watches. Take, as an example, the Alhambra, which options the well-known four-clover motif, which has been within the assortment since 1968 (and thus within the assortment for greater than 50 years now). We’ve got a watch, a number of watches truly, inside that assortment.
We even have the Cadenas watch that appears like a lock. Once more, it’s worn extra as a bracelet, and the time is a bit hidden. However nonetheless, that’s additionally a convention of the early Twentieth century when a girl was not speculated to seek the advice of the time. So the time was considerably hid to verify it appeared extra like a bracelet.
And what concerning the intriguing automatons I’ve seen?
Making automatons is an historic custom. These are very, very particular objects, considered one of a form, personalized for every shopper, and clearly, these are produced in very, very small portions.
We’ve got partnered with a workshop in Saint Croix, Switzerland, which has been making automatons for hundreds of years. At present, a single craftsman runs the workshop in a hidden mountain location. One in all our objectives of teaming up with this workshop was to transmit the experience of this craftsman who works alone within the atelier. Since we’ve been working collectively on these tasks, he has needed to recruit extra folks and train them his experience. In order that’s additionally a really good story.
We’re speaking about just a few items, very extraordinary objects, that discover people who wish to personal them. Clearly, this isn’t one thing that we’ll have in each boutique, and clearly, these are slightly distinctive objects. In order that’s a little bit of the panorama of timepieces inside Van Cleef & Arpels. It’s linked to what we do in jewelry: telling a narrative or making jewelry, and jewelry that tells time. After which objects that inform time.
Trying on the assortment, I can see one watch that may very well be thought-about a gent’s watch: the Pierre Arpels. Is it the model’s intention to maintain it inside these recognized segments or perhaps to broaden the boys’s assortment?
The Pierre is a line that we have now for gents, and we really feel that it’s necessary to have one thing to supply them. It’s a watch that has been in our assortment for a very long time; it was designed by Pierre Arpels within the mid-Twentieth century, which, after all, has been modernized somewhat bit. It’s a really traditional watch, very elegant.
Pierre Arpels
Pierre Arpels
For us, it’s necessary to have this look ahead to gents; nonetheless, we’re not planning to develop it that rather more. First, as a result of there’s a lot already in the marketplace, and secondly, as a result of, once more, we’re a jewelry home, and we wish the timepieces to be linked to what we do primarily, which is jewelry.
As you say, folks don’t essentially see us as a participant within the watch market, however we’re a watch participant in a really, very completely different approach.
How’s the watchmaking half organized? I imply, Van Cleef & Arpels is a part of Richemont, that means that a number of “sister manufacturers” inside the group may provide actions. And there’s Val Fleurier, Richemont’s motion producer. And if I’m appropriate, you additionally used to work, or nonetheless work, with Agenhor.
We’ve got internalized plenty of issues that you could see in your go to to our amenities in Meyrin. The extra we develop on this class, the extra internalized we develop into. However clearly, we’re in a bunch the place there are plenty of synergies with watchmaking. So when it’s related, we’re going to make use of a motion from considered one of our sister manufacturers. However once more, solely when it’s related. Many of the elements at the moment are made within the workshop in Meyrin.
Is there a predisposition in direction of mechanical or quartz actions?
There’s additionally no strict rule on that. We’re extra targeted on automated actions, and most of our problems are primarily based on automated actions. Once more, it begins with the creation after which what makes extra sense. So we have now quartz actions for some girls’ watches. Girls’ watches are sometimes jewels that inform time, and never each motion suits. However once more, there’s no strict rule. It’s extra what could be higher within the piece that we develop.
And what about these spectacular automatons?
Yeah, it’s fairly fascinating. The profile of people who find themselves taken with these objects is actually about people who find themselves tremendous collectors, people who find themselves fascinated by the motion and approach and in addition fascinated by the tales behind them.
Final month, as an example, we delivered an automaton to considered one of our purchasers, and I keep in mind the gross sales affiliate filming them when the automaton was delivered to the shopper’s house. After beginning the automaton, a (mechanical) flower opened, and somewhat butterfly emerged flapping its wings. You possibly can see the eyes of the gentleman; he was like a baby discovering one thing that he clearly had seen earlier than, however the truth that he was in his lounge, in his house, and that he may play with it at any time when he needed to, touched him profoundly. And you might see in his eyes that it was very shifting, very touching, like whenever you take youngsters to see the Christmas lights someplace, it’s like a dream.
How and the place are the automatons created?
Our associate in St. Croix does the technical half; nonetheless, the whole lot else is completed in our workshop in Meyrin. That is the place a tremendous variety of crafts come collectively below one roof, beginning with the stone choice, the stone slicing, the jewelry making, the sprucing, the setting approach, and so on. It’s actually like an enormous jigsaw, after which it involves life. It takes years to develop and make; it’s actually one thing that takes an extended, very long time.
So it’s protected to imagine that you just don’t have automatons mendacity round in inventory? How does the ordering course of work? Do clients who’re taken with such timepieces simply come to the boutique and categorical their wishes, after which their very own course of begins?
On the entire, it’s people who we all know very effectively, clients who’ve bought excessive jewelry for a very long time, who’re taken with these objects. Once more, we’re speaking about just a few folks – individuals who have heard about it – because of Watches & Wonders as a result of we at all times showcase them in the course of the truthful. A dialog will get began and in the course of the course of, they arrive to see it within the making, within the workshop in Meyrin, so that they see it whereas it’s being made.
We not often have them in boutiques, though one which was displayed for the Christmas vacation season in our Geneva boutique is an enormous planetarium.
For extra info on the excessive jewelry collections of Van Cleef & Arpels, please go to VanCleefArpels.com.
