WORLDTEMPUS - 18 January 2012
Elizabeth Doerr
A kiss, a bridge, some artisanal talent, and a whole lot of imagination. These are the elements that Van Cleef & Arpels has added to its horological repertoire over the last five years. Without a doubt, and with great justification, this series of Poetic Complications has been wildly successful and brought the brand widely known for its creative jewelry great renown.
Until now, however, these creative elements have been the result of innovative watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht adding a complicated module to a Jaeger-LeCoultre base movement. Poetic Wish is a complete game changer.
Manufacture caliber
“When Van Cleef wants something, I always make sure to make it possible,” Wiederrecht said in reference to the fairy tale-like quality of this ultra-complicated new timepiece.
He is, of course, referring to the 480-component, 32 mm manually wound caliber that he has created for the next installment of the Parisian lovers' story. This is the first proprietary movement for both Van Cleef & Arpels and for Wiederrecht – and what a caliber to begin with: boasting more than 70 jewel bearings and 240 different component types, this five-minute repeater beating at 3 Hz has more poetry within the movement than on the outside. And that is saying a lot.
This caliber also includes one other little thing: constant force: a 60-hour power reserve with constant force to be exact, which means that precisely the same amplitude is retained as long as the mainspring continues to be wound. Why does a romantic rendezvous need such a thing? “Why not?” Wiederrecht replies. “It is a perfect movement.”
Time and tales
All this complexity has to lead somewhere. It is used to tell the tale of two different people: one man and one woman. The engraved and painted man, framed by a 43 mm solid white gold case conceived for top resonance and weighing only 50 grams, stands atop the towers of Notre Dame looking up at the sky. When the bell within the tower begins to ring, the man moves to the rhythm out onto the terrace as a diamond shooting star overtakes him, carrying his wish minute for minute in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. This wristwatch is called Midnight Poetic Wish.
Lady Arpels Poetic Wish tells the story from the other side. Framed by a 39 mm white gold case dotted with sparkling diamonds, our heroine is standing on the white gold Eiffel Tower from which we are looking down at the Notre Dame cathedral. When the wearer activates the repeater mechanism, the young woman walks along the tower's platform to the rhythm of the gongs when a kite appears and carries her wish down to the cathedral minute by minute.
Naturally, these incredible dials are miniature works of art requiring hundreds of hours of work each. An engraver works all of the metal parts in relief, a painter adds to the three-dimensionality of the engraving to make a true scene, the clouds are made of mother-of-pearl that has been cut and engraved to perfection, and a gem setter makes sure that the shooting star is nothing short of perfect.
The paths that the figures follow are nothing less than a linear retrograde devised by Wiederrecht, a true master of retrograde. “We wanted a theater set, a decorative space here,” he explained, not without some pride. “This is a big new step for both Van Cleef & Arpels and [my company] Agenhor. When you see the dial, you see only poetry.”
