The Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetic Complications welcomes one of its most extraordinary achievements to date. The Lady Arpels Ballerina Musicale Diamant tells the time in terms of hours but not minutes, by means of a retrograde hand sweeping across an arched aperture. But its real talent lies elsewhere, behind a curtain. It is equipped with a disk relating to the musical animation after which it is named. When the crown is pressed at 4 o’clock, this dial starts to rotate. The magnificently miniature-painted curtain parts to reveal a short excerpt from Jewels, a ballet by choreographer George Balanchine inspired by the gems of Claude Arpels. Five ballerinas whirl and twirl to a melody played by a music box keyboard, backed by a four-note carillon performed by hammers and gongs, like a minute repeater. The curtain then closes and the music stops. To set the stage for this horological corps de ballet, Van Cleef & Arpels chose the Lady Arpels case in its largest size to date, i.e. 44.5mm. This was necessary to give the dancers the necessary space, as well as ample scope for the almost full setting of diamonds gracing this version. On the canopy above the stage, the gems extend the draped motif of the curtain. Sound, light, movement, poetry: this is a truly multi-faceted work of art.
Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant
Case: white gold, diamond-set case middle, bezel, lugs, crown and canopy, transparent sapphire crystal aperture, handengraved caseback
Diameter: 44.5mm
Movement: mechanical manual-winding
Functions: offset retrograde hours, painted rotating gold dial, music box and carillon
Strap: gray alligator leather, interchangeable, diamond-set folding clasp
