This year, Van Cleef & Arpels pulled out all the stops with its Lady Arpels Papillon Automate 40mm Poetic Complication watch that combines automatons and several types of Métiers d'Arts. The watch dial is a stunning array of diamonds, multicolored sapphires, mother-of-pearl, miniature painting and champlevé, paillonné, plique-à-jour and curved plique-à-jour enamel that all come together to form a butterfly amidst a breathtaking garden. Making the watch even more breathtaking is the fact that the butterfly is actually an automaton whose wings open and close - fluttering randomly one to four times in a row every couple of minutes when on the wrist. The wearer can also activate the butterfly with a push of a button. The 18K gold case and bezel is set with diamonds and the watch houses a self-winding mechanical movement.
Details
| Price ($) | 290,000 |
| Price range | $200,000 - $300,000 |
| Gender | Unspecified |
| Case | Round |
| Complications | Additional features Hours Minutes |
| Water resistance | 30m |
| Movement | Automatic |
| Power reserve range (hours) | 24 - 48 |
| Power reserve | 36 hours |
| Case size | Large (>39mm) |
| Case diameter (mm) | 40 |
| Case colour | White Gold |
| Case material | White Gold |
| Dial colour | Colourful |
| Gemstones | Diamonds Sapphires |
| Limited edition | Limited edition |
| Where to buy | Available by appointment |
| Caliber | Vallefleurier Q020 |
| ReferenceNumber | VCARO8PN00 |
Related Watches
Van Cleef & Arpels conception is rooted in passion and marriage, that of Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef. Yet their union was not only one of love but also of profession, as Estelle Arpels was the daughter of a dealer in precious stones and her husband, the son of a lapidary. As a result, the two faced a bejeweled destiny, bearing timepieces and jewelry of utmost delicacy and elegance.Debuted in 2022, the Lady Arpels Heures Florales watch embodies this affection and expertise at the brand's foundation. Featuring a complex mechanism that, at the turn of every hour, opens and closes the flowers, Van Cleef & Arpels replace numerical representation of time and instead chooses to represent its passing through the beautiful cycles of nature. This is just one of the many wonders found in Van Cleef & Arpels collection of watches, however. Channeling the poetry of time, the brand has also conceived the cobra-textured Cadenas watch with a bending human figure, the astronomical Midnight Planetarium Watch and the Alhambra models that flaunt the brand's classic clover motif.
Related Watches
