While it is natural for brands with expertise in jewellery making to extend design and gem-setting techniques to their timepieces, Van Cleef & Arpels has added an edge of story-telling to the mix. Over the past 20 years, the brand has established and built its Poetic Complications line, which, as the name suggests, lends a playful, romantic edge to its complications with animation that brings alive every dial, so much so that timekeeping almost tends to take a step back in them. In 2022, this was personified by the Lady Arpels Heures Florales watch, where the hours were told by counting the number of opened flowers on the dial, while the minutes were indicated on the side of the case. Last year, the brand unveiled Lady Féerie, in which the hands of a fairy point to the (retrograde minutes while jumping hours appears in a window at 6 o'clock. In 2024, the Lady Arpels Brise d'Été watch had butterflies that serve as retrograde markers for hours and minutes; when the on-demand animation at eight is activated, their wings flutter, along with the movement of the flowers and stems on the dial.
Rainer Bernard, head of research and development for watchmaking, joined Van Cleef & Arpels in 2011 and, today, is responsible for making key contributions to both the watchmaking business and the development of automata at Van Cleef & Arpels. WatchTime India spoke to Bernard about this idea of 'Poetry of Time' at Van Cleef & Arpels...
WatchTime India: Watches at Van Cleef & Arpels blend playfulness and romanticism with haute horology, a combination not seen often. Where does this idea stem from?
Rainer Bernard: The combination of the playfulness of a story, high jewellery, and haute horology is for us a keystone element for the creation of our watches. We use jewellery and watchmaking techniques combined with several crafts to bring a story to life. The idea to combine these elements is not new to us as this creative process is similar to the process of creating high jewellery. With respect to this, as we create timepieces, we are adding the expression of the passage of time and physical animation as additional dimensions. 44
WTI: Poetic Complications forms the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels's innovations and technical mastery. What is your approach towards this collection and how do you build on it each year?
RB: We started to develop Poetic Complications about 18 years ago, based on the desire to add motion and animation through a mechanical movement to tell stories. This collection represents an important part of our watchmaking identity, and we will keep on developing it in the future. The basic idea will be the same: Find ways to express the display of time from a narrative point of view.
WTI: Storytelling is a big part of the brand. How do you decide on which narratives you want to build on each year?
RB: Our creations always find their source in the story we want to tell. The sources of these stories come from universal themes like the enchanted nature, love, and poetic astronomy. Within these themes, many more stories are still waiting to be transformed into a Van Cleet & Arpels creation.
WTI: How much do the brand's vintage designs, both from watches and jewellery, play into its contemporary collection?
RB: Jewellery watches, which is jewellery with simple watchmaking functions, has always existed at Van Cleef & Arpels. We love to revisit the designs coming from the maison's patrimony; they are a great source of inspiration. We play with these aesthetic codes, revisit, and adapt these designs to integrate them into our today's and tomorrow's creations.
WTI: It has been nearly 13 years since you joined the brand. How has your work evolved over the past decade?
RB: Our watchmaking development department has grown steadily since my first days in the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels.
Today, we master the whole creative process from the imagination of the story, the development, the testing and qualification, all the way to the finished creation. You can imagine that, therefore, there is a bigger variety of tasks to accomplish: There are more technical decisions to take, more people to talk to, more specialists and craftsmen to synchronise. But one thing is still the same:
The chance I feel to be a part (what does he mean by this?) of the Van Cleef & Arpels team with its creativity and enchanting vision of the Poetry of Time!
WTI: Your favourite V&A watch?
RB: Do I really have to decide between a Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux or the Lady Arpels Heures Florales watch?
Images: Courtesy Brand
This story first appeared on WatchTime India's 12th anniversary issue in July 2024.
This story first appeared on WatchTime India's 12th anniversary issue in July 2024.
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