Van Cleef’s Poetic Complications® collection is inspired by emblematic themes of nature’s vitality, astronomy, and love.
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
Van Cleef’s Poetic Complications® collection is inspired by nature’s vitality, astronomy, and love.
When we speak of Van Cleef and enchanted nature, we speak of extraordinary craftsmanship. Inspired by emblematic themes of the Maison, such as the vitality of nature, astronomy and love, they interpret the measurement of time as an invitation to imagine and adventure. Van Cleef & Arpels’ singular savoir-faire in complications allows each dial to tell a story. This expertise is illustrated by the Poetic Complications® collection, which has brought enchanting tableaux to life since 2006.
Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier watch
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels Clement Rousset
A range of skills comes together to express the mechanisms that animate the dials. Conducted in-house, research and development is a crucial stage. This process turns a concept—a blooming flower, the ballet of the planets, a tender kiss—into reality by establishing a dialogue between the creative teams and technical manufacturers.
Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier watch
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
Van Cleef – Lady Arpels Heures Florales watch – 18K white gold, Diamond, Mother-of-pearl
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels Clement Rousset
Drawing inspiration from flora and fauna, Van Cleef & Arpels’ creations celebrate the spectacle of a benevolent nature, constantly renewed. In the Maison’s collections, time flows in harmony with the endless cycle of the seasons. Inspired by Linnaeus’ Flower Clock, the Lady Arpels Heures Florale watches lend a new dimension to Enchanting Nature, a theme dear to the Maison, by offering a poetic way of telling time. These timepieces reinterpret the Flower Clock, where time is told by counting the number of open flowers. This animation depicts nature in motion, inspired by the cycle of flowers opening and closing depending on the time of day.
Van Cleef and Arpels Stand at Watches and Wonder, Geneva, Switzerland
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
At Watches and Wonders 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland, Van Cleef unveiled a key source of inspiration for the Maison. Love sets the joyful rhythm of the Poetry of Time, offering a vision of watchmaking filled with dreams and emotion. This year, the powerful theme inspires Van Cleef & Arpels to create a pair of extraordinary dials. With expert craftsmanship, these new pieces tell the story of a legendary couple: Vega and Altair—also known as Niulang and Zhinu. Complementary in design, the watches depict the lovers’ wistful meeting and the joy of their reunion.
Van Cleef and Arpels Stand at Watches and Wonder, Geneva, Switzerland
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
“Watches and Wonders 2026 gives us the opportunity to again showcase our Poetic Complications collection. Born in 2006 with the Lady Arpels Centenaire watch and its Quantième de Saison movement, this assortment instills emotion thanks to the confluence of watchmaking expertise and a narrative vision of passing time. Over the years, these creations have become iconic embodiments of the Poetry of Time dear to Van Cleef & Arpels. This conception is further enriched today with a new and enchanting chapter.” – Catherine Renier, President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels.
Van Cleef – Lady Retrouvailles Célestes
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels Clement Rousset
VanCleef – Lady Rencontre Céleste watch White gold, sapphires, white mother-of-pearl, diamonds, enamel, miniature painting, manual-winding mechanical movement
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels Clement Rousset
A medley of blue, the Lady Rencontre Céleste watch portrays the couple, hands clasped, framed by a star-studded sky. Their white gold silhouette appears behind sparkling clouds adorned with diamonds set in plique-à-jour enamel. Their faces, suggested by rose-cut diamonds, are manifestly engrossed in mutual contemplation. This enchanting tableau glows with the soft light of a Moon set with diamonds. The background of the dial, glazed in champlevé and grisaille enamel, is further embellished with a subtle sapphire crescent, the setting beads infused with color thanks to the miniature painting technique.
Van Cleef – Lady Retrouvailles Célestes – The creation of these beautiful watches is a conversation between science and art, balancing technical requirements and stylistic intentions, all aimed at telling the story behind the designs.
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
Setting the rose-cut diamond on the character of the Lady Rencontre Célestes watch
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
To breathe life into these enchanting decors, Van Cleef & Arpels brings together several artistic crafts, each calling for patience and exacting precision. The champlevé enamel technique, used to adorn the background of the dials, consists of designing a motif via chambers carved in the precious metal which is then filled with several layers of enamel. The piece is fired after each step. For the final firing, a lapidary procedure eliminates excess material and reveals a dazzling decor framed by fine metal contours.
A dialogue between science and art, between technical demands and stylistic intent, all dedicated to narrating the tale expressed in the creations.
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels complements these ancestral methods with an innovative enameling technique that accentuates the three-dimensionality of the decorations.
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
On the Lady Rencontre Céleste model, this technique is used with grisaille enamel, savoir-faire developed in France as of the 16th century and which draws forth chiaroscuro and perspective effects by combining two colors of enamel. Meanwhile, plique-à-jour enamel allows light to pass through the fabric of Zhinu’s gown, like a stained-glass window. The motif is outlined in an openwork gold structure and then filled in with fine layers of enamel. This exacting technique imbues the dials with interplays of transparency that underscore the depth of the scene.
Van Cleef – Lady Retrouvailles Célestes – Setting in enamel involves fixing precious stones directly in plique-à-jour enamel, with no other metal components.
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
This process generates a feeling of weightlessness that accentuates the glow of the precious stones.
Credit Johann Sauty – Van Cleef and Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels complements these ancestral methods with an innovative enameling technique that accentuates the three-dimensionality of the decorations. Developed by the Maison to give form to sketches composed by the Creation Studio, this patented savoir-faire is the fruit of two years of research and development. Setting in enamel involves fixing precious stones directly in plique-à-jour enamel, with no other metal components.
Van Cleef – Lady Retrouvailles Célestes watch Rose gold, white gold, pink sapphires, white mother-of-pearl, diamonds, enamel, miniature painting,
manual-winding mechanical movement
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
The Lady Retrouvailles Célestes watch also brings this savoir-faire to life in gently glittering tones of pink and mauve. The background of the dial, fashioned in champlevé enamel, hints at the emotions harbored by the two characters standing before a crescent of mauve sapphires.
Van Cleef – Lady Retrouvailles Célestes
Credit Van Cleef and Arpels
Arms outstretched in longing, they seem to be awaiting their reunion across an aerial bridge of sculpted white gold birds. Clouds and veils in plique-à-jour enamel and diamonds set in enamel round out the tableau, lending the scene striking transparency effects. The courtship continues on the back of the watches, with the Summer Triangle asterism, formed by three of the firmament’s brightest stars—Altair, Vega and Deneb—engraved in the night sky.
