Over the past decade or so, the Maison has gradually integrated all the skills required to create its Poetic Complications, from engineering and artistic crafts to quality control. This approach makes it possible to maintain control over quality and deadlines while preserving the confidentiality of developments that can span several years.
From a Gouache Painting to a Watch
It all begins with a story. First, the narrative is interpreted visually in the form of a gouache painting, which is then handed over to the technical teams. Their initial reaction is often the same: “How on Earth can something like this be made?” A first meeting then brings together the various departments and specialists so that everyone can absorb the project's philosophy. Each team then goes back to work, regularly returning to present its constraints. The strength of this organization shines through in every project. Engineers and artists work side by side throughout this process.
The creation of a dial also involves 3D modeling, which makes it possible to position the components and define the available spaces according to the mechanism. The first designs are then entrusted, for example, to an engraver, who sculpts a character in wax. At every stage of a watch's creation, particularly when it comes to the dial, adjustments are made millimeter by millimeter. The position of a hand, the tilt of a head: nothing is left to chance.
Inventing Setting Techniques in Enamel
Enamel plays a central role in Van Cleef & Arpels' stories. Sometimes, the required technique simply does not exist yet, even in an art whose earliest beginnings date back thousands of years. The Maison's teams have occasionally managed to invent it themselves, as was the case with setting diamonds in enamel. The dial told the story of a fairy awakening at daybreak, surrounded by nature glistening with dew. The design called for these droplets to be represented on a plique-à-jour enamel surface.
It took two years of development to achieve this. Without a collet or prongs, the diamond is set into the enamel once the plique-à-jour work is complete, after which the piece is returned to the kiln. The process requires extreme precision, especially since diamonds do not tolerate heat well. The temperature must remain below the point at which the stone begins to blacken, while still being high enough for the enamel to regain some viscosity and flow around the diamond. If it is too fluid, it runs; if it is not fluid enough, it will not hold. It is indeed a setting technique, but one invented and patented by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Enamel, the Radiance Behind Every Story
Today, the Maison's workshops have mastered shades that cannot be found anywhere else, as illustrated by the pink Enchanted Ballerina. Here the skirt shaped like a butterfly’s wings were adorned with a total of seven new, challenging enamel colors. Another example where the Van Cleef workshops developed a new technique was when they created a dial with an enamel fruit basket without using metal framework.
At Van Cleef & Arpels the extremely detailed transfers, or decals, are always made of enamel, never lesser-quality acrylic. Some comprise between six and 15 layers, each applied using pad printing and then fired in a kiln. This process makes previously unseen colors possible, but above all, it creates a depth that paint cannot achieve. As one of the managers explains, paint is very flat. Here, however, light penetrates the material to some extent, creating a completely different impression and shade.
The same attention to detail extends to the backs of the watches. At Van Cleef & Arpels, the mechanism is never on display, but when a watch is turned over, the story continues. Even the oscillating weight is decorated, to the point that the client no longer sees it as a component of the movement, but as part of the narrative.
The grisaille technique, used for Bal des Amoureux, also illustrates the patience involved. Fine white layers are applied one on top of another over a black background: the more layers are added, the more the black disappears. It took 15 layers to depict the perfectly white light coming through a window.
Challenges in Every Piece
The wings of the fairy in Lady Féerie alone illustrate the scale of these challenges. Crafted in exceptionally delicate plique-à-jour enamel, they also had to be set along their edges to remain faithful to the story. Yet any setting process creates tension in the material. A new technique had to be developed, and the first pieces broke during production. That is no longer the case today, but the method remains a secret. For this watch, around 15 components each required a dedicated study.
These examples shed light on the length of these projects and help explain why development often takes five years. The mechanics already present numerous challenges, and the dial is just as demanding. The most complex dial ever produced in these workshops required more than 400 hours of work for its decoration alone, and the watch received an award at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. It also embodies a signature the Maison proudly claims as its own: the third dimension. Looking at some of these dials, one gets the impression of being able to step right inside them.
Every discovery stems from a story and a specific need, and some of these innovations are subsequently patented. Behind the poetry of the dials, what stands out is this determination: years of trials, countless projects, and techniques invented to make a drop of dew hold its place in enamel.
