Van Cleef & Arpels watches have a very touching place, each of its watches is like telling a story or depicting a picture. Women themselves are biased towards sensuality. Van Cleef & Arpels captures women’s hearts very well. Each piece of work will be accompanied by the call of ‘who can stand it’, and can be moved by a story or a painting. The odds are higher.
Van Cleef & Arpels has previously produced a women’s astronomical complication watch, placing the entire astrological world on the dial, placing very representative celestial bodies, such as Venus, Mercury, the Moon, and the Earth. With the sun moving in the middle, a picture of the movement of a celestial body is depicted on the disk.
Heliocentric theory
In this poetic complication watch by Van Cleef & Arpels, other celestial planets move around the sun. Remember the heliocentric saying? The heliocentric theory was very controversial in the past. Before the heliocentric theory was proposed, people always thought that the earth was the center of the universe, but it was not until the 16th century that Copernicus proposed that the sun is the center of the universe, and it was met with ridicule from various fields. He laughed, and with the turbulent development of the times, the heliocentric theory gradually proved its correctness.
Nicholas Copernicus
Going back, the first astronomer to record in the history of mankind who advocated heliocentric theory was actually Aristarchus (about 310 BC-about 230 BC) in ancient Greece. Most of his writings have been lost, but in one we know he wrote about the volume of the sun and the moon and the distance to the earth. In another book, he developed a model of a flexible heliocentric theory. However, Aristax’s ideas were very avant-garde at that time, and could not be understood by the world. His light was gradually covered by the ancient Greek philosophers.
Later, astronomy and clocks gradually came together.
Look at this clock first. Around 1765, a French watchmaker CS Passemant, a watchmaker specializing in astronomical complexes, customized a clock for Louis XV that was positioned not only as a scientific instrument but also as a noble Decorations. Not only does this clock provide a detailed description between the earth and the moon, but the sun is also at the center of these celestial bodies.
Van Cleef & Arpels astronomical complication watch
In fact, in 2014, Van Cleef & Arpels had already produced a poetic complication watch, but it was a men’s model at that time, the watch diameter was 44 mm. This time Van Cleef & Arpels created a 38 mm diameter watch for girls.
This watch case is made of precious metal white gold, and the case and bezel are inlaid with diamonds that girls like. The previous men’s models were not set with diamonds. The color design of the disk is very similar to that of the Milky Way. The sun in rose gold is surrounded by seven elliptical orbits. The ball of pink mother-of-pearl refers to Mercury, and the ball made of green enamel is Venus. Turquoise refers to the earth. It is particularly interesting that the moon revolves around the earth, so there is a diamond beside the turquoise to represent the moon. In the outermost orbit is a rhodium-plated gold shooting star.
Every star on the disk runs at the speed that actually orbits the sun. Like Mercury, it takes 88 days to circle the dial, and Venus needs 224 days. Everyone on the planet is familiar with it. It takes 365 days to orbit the sun. As for the moon, In particular, it takes 29.5 days to orbit the earth, and another meteor is used to indicate the time.
Like the previous men’s model, this model also puts a window showing the year, month, and day on the case back, but the difference is that the center of the case back is decorated with a round turquoise, Means Earth, surrounded by a crescent moon studded with diamonds. Van Cleef & Arpels also put the craftsmanship on the jewellery in the watch, which can be said to be very thorough for women.
Astronomical watchmaker ChristiaanvanderKlaauw and complex movement
Astronomical watchmaker ChristiaanvanderKlaauw
The movement in this Van Cleef & Arpels watch comes from the astronomical watchmaker ChristiaanvanderKlaauw.
ChristiaanvanderKlaauw’s early work
ChristiaanvanderKlaauw was previously influenced by the magnificent tradition of the 17th century. His early works have a clear Baroque style, and he constantly develops complex clocks. Later, ChristiaanvanderKlaauw’s style became more and more streamlined, pursuing between complex functions and simple wear. A balance.
To accommodate smaller models, the movement has been redesigned to incorporate a planetarium module developed by ChristiaanvanderKlaauw, with a power reserve of 36 hours. The previous men’s models were equipped with buttons for adjusting the year, month, and day on the left side of the model. After redesigning, the ladies’ model removed this design and appeared in a simpler shape.
In summary: I have read many people’s comments on this watch by Van Cleef & Arpels, saying that it is a thousand years at a glance, after all, such a face value and craftsmanship can indeed afford this praise. As for the price, the public price of this ladies’ model is 182W, and the men’s model is 164W. It is not worth the effort depending on the individual’s economic strength. (Picture / text watch home Wu Fengqi)