Decorative features or beauty accessories, they all betoken the conventions of their age and the expertise of the Maison. The pieces, remarkable for their combinations of materials, set the stage for a dialogue between jewelry, watchmaking and métiers d'art. Each and every automaton is an invitation to journey to the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels’ poetic vision.
The aesthetic design introduced in 2022 with the Rêveries de Berylline automaton, followed by Floraison du Nénuphar and Éveil du Cyclamen in 2023, comes out once again this year through new and enchanting spectacles. The Maison is unveiling two original automatons inspired by nature in motion and flora. The Apparition des Baies and Bouton d’Or automatons pay tribute to the wonders of flora and fauna. They summon up a dreamlike universe, imparting a distinctive dimension into the Poetry of Time dear to Van Cleef & Arpels.
Some 30 centimeters in height, these table ornaments are created in partnership with François Junod, an automaton maker in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. On demand, they present the spectacle of an unfurling bouquet, revealing a bird or a ballerina-like fairy. Lapidaries, enamelers, engravers, and gem setters apply their ancestral expertise to beautify these timepieces. Finally, a crystalline melody was specially composed for each automaton.
Apparition des Baies Automaton
Folded onto themselves, the lacquered rose-gold leaves of the Apparition des Baies automaton form a luxuriant dome that conceals a secret. Like a delicate blooming, the gradual opening of the bouquet reveals a white-gold, diamond and sapphire bird spreading its wings with lifelike authenticity. After taking flight, the bird finds refuge within the object, and the leaves gently fold back. A new rotating system to open and close the bouquet was developed in-house at the Van Cleef & Arpels' Workshops and then placed upon a mechanism designed by François Junod. This structure is composed of 112 overlapping and intertwined leaves for a volume effect.
The base of the automaton features two dalmatian jasper structures and a bowl made of thulite, a rare pink-hued mineral. These materials, carefully selected by the Maison’s gemologists, were meticulously cut and polished to bring out their full character. The white-gold butterfly with its engraved wings, tenderly perched upon a rose-gold branch, observes the passing hours indicated on the rotating ring, embellished with golden beads and hour markers in yellow gold and diamonds. Once the animation is set in motion, a dulcet melody rings out to accompany this poetic tableau.
Bouton d'Or Automaton
Inspired by the Maison’s rich heritage, the Bouton d’Or automaton honours the eponymous jewelry collection, reinterpreting the soft contours of a motif known as “paillette,” created by Van Cleef & Arpels in the mid-1930s. Concave or convex, the paillettes, reminiscent of the sequins used in couture, proliferate to bring to life figurative creations such as a delicately bound gleaming gold bouquet. The pink tones of the thulite base complement the soft violet hues of the charoite bowl. A mix of tradition and modernity, this new creation displays a joyful harmony of materials. True to its legacy in the field of precious objects, the automaton’s animation illustrates a scene of stunning vitality.
A fairy, her face suggested by a rose-cut diamond, crowned with diamonds, and clad in a flamboyant rose-gold gown trimmed with blue lacquer, pirouettes in an enchanted dance upon a blooming flowerbed. She twirls thanks to the beating of her plique-à-jour enamel wings, delicately clasping a briolette-cut sapphire between her fingers.
The fruit of extensive research and inspired by the mechanism of the Rêveries de Berylline automaton, the Bouton d’Or automaton required a high degree of precision and technical prowess. In addition to perfecting myriad gold components by hand, various polishing procedures were necessary, the curved discs calling for particular deftness. Craftsman bring out the gleam of the precious metal while carefully preserving the shape of the motif. 684 caps or discs, lacquered using both airbrush and traditional techniques to intensify the brilliance of every color, were hand-assembled on wispy stems.
The Art of Lacquer
The leaves of the Apparition des Baies automaton, as well as the paillettes in the Bouton d’Or automaton, were entirely hand-fashioned before the application of lacquer by Catherine Nicolas, lacquer artist and awarded as Meilleur Ouvrier de France. This traditional savoir-faire includes a number of different steps ranging from the mixture of pigments to the application of the coating, as well as sanding every layer and a final polishing procedure. To round out the process, glazing perfects the colors and adds a hint of brilliance to the piece.
Apparition des Baies automaton
To create subtle gradations of green, each leaf was lacquered by airbrush. Fully eight coats of lacquer were applied, each requiring extended drying time and manual sanding.
Bouton d’Or automaton
Each paillette making up the Bouton d’Or automaton was lacquered by airbrush or traditional brush. Exhibiting nuances of blue, purple, pink, and red, the branches that support the paillettes are bound with a ribbon when the bouquet closes. The fairy, the center of her frame cloaked in a rose-gold dress, was lacquered in blue.
« When I lacquer a piece of such relief and detail, I need to visualize the full object in my mind’s eye and channel that precision in every gesture, as there is no starting over. »
Catherine Nicolas - lacquer craftswoman and Meilleur Ouvrier de France
