This is a very interesting and nice to look at women's watch from Van Cleef & Arpels. If I was a woman, then I would likely start saving up for one. Pennies, nickles, and dimes until I reached $116,000. The watch is the Pont des Amoureux, which means lover's bridge. The complication makes it such that the two figurines connect at midnight for a "kiss." This was no easy task actually. Check out this image of the watch internals. Just a small part of this area is dedicated to the manually wound mechanical movement. The rest is for the complex retrograde minute and hour hands. The watch is also in 18k white gold, with lots of diamonds, and the dial is totally hand painted. A real piece of art work with what Van Cleef & Aprels calls a "poetic complication" - how sweet.
The actual Pont des Amoureux is a French bridge going over the Thiou River in Annecy, a town also known as the Venice of France. The fabled bridge earned a reputation throughout the years as a rendezvous place for couples in love.
This romantic concept has been applied to a poetic watch whose maker also carries a rich French legacy. Van Cleef & Arpels coined the phrase “poetic complication” and recently presented luxury lovers with a unique form of horology that perfectly demonstrates the poetry of its name. Instead of focusing on utility, these complications are whimsical and meant to evoke emotion. Here, that emotion is romance.
Women’s watches such as this are exceedingly rare. The piece combines exquisite jewelry components with artistic craftsmanship, which can only be fully appreciated once understanding the elements of the various tiny details.
What you can’t see hidden inside the watch is a manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre 846 mechanical movement that is sized for a watch a fraction of the size. Why? Because the rest of the space is dedicated to a custom Van Cleef & Arpels module that makes the romantic gesture on the dial possible. And even though the French jewelry house knew that the complex mechanism would never be seen, their impeccable attention to detail dictated that it be beautifully finished nonetheless.
The bridge depicted on the dial isn’t the actual Pont des Amoureux, but a fairy tale rendition conceived by Van Cleef & Arpels. The most time-consuming process for the makers of the luxury timepiece is the components of the background of the face. The contre-jour enamel painting of the buildings and starry night in gray tones is completely painted by hand by a master artist. Each dial is then baked to perfection in a furnace heating up to 1545 degrees. The resulting dial with its white gold “lovers hands” and detailed bridge make for a stunning, and poetic, three-dimensional scene. The entire timepiece is housed in a 38mm wide 18-karat white gold case decorated with large diamonds around the bezel, as well as on the mono-piece lugs, their ends, and on the watch crown as a cabochon. Attached to the watch is a smooth, white reptile strap. It is a remarkable and beautiful timepiece for a lady, further enhanced by the story behind its design and construction. Priced at $116,000.
Captions for image points:
- 38mm wide 18K white gold case decorated with diamonds
- White gold male figurine serves as retrograde minute hand
- Female figurine serves as retrograde hour hand
- Enamel dial is totally hand painted by master artist
- Inside watch is a modified Jaeger-LeCoultre mechanical movement
- Lovers meet to kiss at midnight
Ariel Adams
ablogtoread.com
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