The Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium watch hands-on

18 January 2018 | Van Cleef & Arpels , Women's watches

Four years have passed by since the launch of the Midnight Planétarium by Van Cleef & Arpels and, at the beginning of this new year and coinciding with the SIHH, the Maison unveiled a new version of this timepiece exclusively dedicated to women. This novelty, which belongs to the Temps Poétique collection, encloses, within a small-diameter case, a complication exclusively crafted for this watch, which catches your attention from the very first moment you lay your eyes on it.

On a deep blue dial that reminds us of a star-studded sky appears the fairy dance of Mercury, Venus and planet Earth moving in harmony around the Sun. The moon, on the other hand, which is always perceived as a pale and melancholic planet, has been portrayed with its halo of mystery through a sparkling brilliant-cut diamond and with its precise movement lasting 29,5 days.

Holding the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium in your hands, knowing that its heart is animated by an automatic movement and being able to monitor every day how these stars move, is the most fascinating thing that you could ever wear wrapped around your wrist. In this miniaturized universe, you are able to track the real and exact movement of the planets; Mercury's movement will take 88 days, Venus's movement will take 224 days, while the Earth will take 365 days to complete its rotation, the Moon will also revolve around the Earth in exactly 29,5 days.

Astronomy has always represented a desire for knowledge accompanied by that aura of mystery and poetry that still intrigues me today. If we talk about poetry, who better than women could proudly and perfectly interpret this topic so mysterious and so highly debated in the past? Those of you, who, like me, define themselves as dreamers, cannot deny the beauty of the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium, not only in its capacity as a time-measurement-instrument, but also because of its sophisticated complication hidden within a little space. Van Cleef & Arpels are worldwide famous for their elegant creations and, once again, they entrusted the creation of this "mystery-chic" watch to the savoir faire of their master watch-makers;  they are the ones, who were able to make this vivid dial stand out, thanks to their in-depth knowledge of watch-making techniques and the use of precious materials and stones.

The magic of the bright night darkness of the Midnight Planétarium and the Lady Arpels Zodiac models join the Complications Poétiques and Cadrans Extraordinaires collections that are slowly expanding, thanks to this new interpretation of the universe, in which the passage of poetic time flows into the female universe, where Venus and the Moon perfectly symbolize women. The Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium is a marvel of watch-making in itself that, to perfectly fit a thin and delicate female wrist, is hosted within a 38mm white gold case embellished with diamonds and an equally precious bezel, the crown, on the other hand, hosts a brilliant-cut diamond.

The sun in pink gold and the comet in rhodium-plated gold appear on the dial in aventurine crafted in a deep blue color. Even the planets are made of precious stones; Mercury is made of pink mother-of-pearl, the Earth is in turquoise, while Venus is in green enamel. All the stones have been carved and hand-worked to shape perfect spheres. In its discreet beauty, the moon is made of diamond, while the comet - that indicates the hours in an original way - is made of rhodium-plated gold. The attention to detail and the magnificence of this watch also continue on the case-back, where the day, the month and the year appear inside small decorated windows.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium hosts within its case a mechanical movement with automatic winding equipped with a planetary module designed and crafted exclusively for the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels that guarantees up to 40 hours of power reserve. If this watch is able to amaze you at first glance, I advise you to take a closer look at the case-back of this little watch-making marvel; its sapphire crystal allows you to discover a precious universe made of white gold, rose gold, aventurine quartz, a calendar, a winding rotor in white gold and black PVD, the earth made of turquoise.

The moon, on the other hand, is in white gold and snow-set diamonds shining in full splendor. There are two strap choices available for this original complication: blue alligator leather with a shredded pin buckle in white gold with brilliant-cut diamonds or a white gold bracelet and diamonds in its most precious version. The Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planétarium is part of a numbered edition collection. How do you feel when you are faced with so much glamour? Do you feel romantic enough as if you were the Earth itself and everything else would revolve around you?

(Photo credit: Horbiter®'s proprietary photo-shooting)

Mirella Codeghini @Horbiter®