Van Cleef & Arpels - Lady Arpels Planetarium

As a preview of the novelties that will be showcased at the upcoming Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (Geneva, 15-19 January 2018), Van Clef & Arpels presented the Lady Arpels Planétarium in a reduced 38 mm size, a poetic timepiece that illustrates the Sun and the closest planets: Mercury, Venus and finally Earth, along with its natural satellite, the Moon.

Each heavenly body moves at its actual speed, orbiting the dial in 88 days for Mercury, 224 days for Venus and 365 days for Earth.

An exceptional details is offered by the Moon, which rotates around the Earth in 29.5 days, performing a visible ballet on the dial, day after day.

The white gold case, set with diamonds in the bezel and sides of the case, houses an automatic movement equipped with an exclusive module developed in collaboration with Christiaan van der Klaauw and offering 40 hours of power reserve.

The dial enriches the planetary spectacle with a shooting star in rhodium-plated gold to show the time.

Planets of differing volumes rotate around a Sun made of pink gold, gleaming in the centre of the dial. A pink mother-of-pearl Mercury and a turquoise Earth were hand cut in spherical shapes, while Venus is portrayed with a green enamel bead, fashioned in the Van Cleef & Arpels enamel workshops in Meyrin, Switzerland. The familiar glow of the Moon as it orbits the Earth comes to life with a brilliant-cut diamond, contrasting with the midnight blue background.

Seven aventurine discs are placed in concentric circles within the dial, individually rotating with the watch movement. The planets and the shooting star thus move at actual speed through their sparkling environment.

On the back of the watch, two apertures display the day, month and year while the oscillating weight is adorned with a depiction of the Moon: a turquoise circle embraces a crescent embellished with diamonds of varying diameters, set using the serti neige style technique. Finally, the aventurine disc displays the materials associated to the celestial bodies orbiting the dial.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Planetarium is available with an alligator leather strap or with a precious diamond-set white gold bracelet. vancleefarpels.com