Written in the stars
Van Cleef & Arpels’ savoir faire in poetic complications has birthed many wondrous timepieces. Jean Bienayme, the maison’s international marketing and communications director since 2010, remembers when he first held the Midnight Planetarium timepiece. “Seeing it for the first time, I felt like a kid again,” he recalls. “It made me remember the time when I was lying on the grass as a child, looking into the night sky and wondering which of the tiny lights represented planets or stars.” The maison’s astronomy watch of 2014 gave Bienayme the opportunity to have, as a grown-up, the whole universe on his wrist. It was, as he shares, one of the most emotional moments he’s experienced in horology.
For this maison, its poetic complications are exercises in storytelling. The idea has always been to forge a strong link between the owner and the timepiece through intrigue and marvel. This year’s coup de grace is a masculine timepiece which holds a truly innovative feature.
On a dial of aventurine glass on white gold, Van Cleef & Arpels has placed diamonds that trace out the Monoceros – or Unicorn – constellation. Contained within the 42mm white gold case is an automatic mechanical movement integrated with a first-of-its-kind light-on-demand module. This module has its inspiration in piezoelectricity – an esoteric branch of science from the 18th century and incorporated into horology in the present day with the Midnight Nuit Lumineuse, available in numbered editions.
Its name is a clear indication of its abilities. A pusher on the left, once depressed, will trigger a vibrating ceramic strip which, in turn, powers six electroluminescent diodes. These diodes create a backlight on six of the dial’s diamonds, illuminating the Monoceros constellation on demand for a duration of approximately four seconds. A retrograding hour hand in white gold provides the time, while the white gold case back is engraved with the same design as seen on the dial.
