Van Cleef & Arpels wins big for its artistic ingenuity at GPHG 2024

Van Cleef & Arpels’ participation in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) 2024 last November proved to be nothing short of a resounding success, as it emerged victorious in three categories: Artistic Crafts, Ladies’ Watch, and Ladies’ Complication.

With its time-honoured dedication to artistry and innovation, the Parisian maison showcased an extraordinary mastery of watchmaking that seamlessly blends technical prowess with poetic elegance and stupendous craftsmanship. And here’s why the creations came up tops.

Artistic Crafts Prize: Lady Arpels Jour Enchante

Reserved for watches that demonstrate exceptional expertise in techniques such as enamelling, engraving, lacquering, guilloche, skeleton-working, and the like, this esteemed accolade was deservingly won by the Lady Arpels Jour Enchante.

The timepiece, housed in a 41mm white gold case, epitomises this creative mastery. The dial presents a mesmerising fairy twirling in a vibrant, 3D scene inspired by the theme of Enchanted Nature. Plique-a-jour enamelling is used to craft the hand-sculpted white gold fairy’s delicate wings, achieving an ethereal and luminous transparency. Faconne enamelling, another demanding technique developed by the house, also brings depth to the flowerbed rendered in high relief, with individual blossoms adorned with radiant yellow sapphires.

Complementing the scene is the morning sun that sparkles with spessartite garnets, coloured sapphires, and diamonds. Its rays are suspended using a lifted setting that creates the illusion of floating dewdrops. On the caseback, an engraved depiction of the fairy taking flight adds an enchanting conclusion to the enchantment.

Requiring two years of development and 180 hours of meticulous handwork, the Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté is a masterpiece that represents the very qualities that have made Van Cleef & Arpels a highly respected and collectible name.

Ladies’ Watch Prize: Lady Jour Nuit

Capturing the coveted Ladies’ Watch Prize, an accolade reserved for feminine timepieces that elegantly showcase traditional hour and minute displays, is this creation paying homage to the celestial ballet of the sun and moon.

Encased in a refined 33mm white gold case, the watch features a 24-hour rotating disc that orchestrates the perpetual dance of the sun, crafted in guilloche yellow gold, with the diamond-paved moon and stars. The Murano aventurine glass dial, with its glittering depth and delicate openings for diamond-set stars, evokes the vastness of the cosmos. A mother-of-pearl horizon, painted in soft blues and adorned with a guilloche motif, anchors this astronomical tableau.

On the reverse, a sapphire crystal reveals an oscillating weight decorated with a starry enamel-decal sky and a protective fairy, a hallmark of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetic Complications collection. Importantly, two new savoir-faire techniques were developed for the Jour Nuit crystals: the use of platinum for the fairy silhouette, and pointillism to create a captivating colour gradient.

Ladies’ Complication Prize: Lady Arpels Brise d’Ete

The Lady Arpels Brise d’Ete claimed the Ladies’ Complication Prize, which celebrates exceptional mechanical creativity and complexity in feminine timepieces. Evokes the serenity of a summer morning, this endearingly whimsical showpiece weaves together fine horology, jewellery expertise, and traditional craftsmanship.

Encircled within a 38mm white gold case is a matte mother-of-pearl dial featuring two delicate butterflies rendered in plique-a-jour enamel. These winged wonders are positioned diametrically opposite each other, and take turns to indicate noon and midnight. Coming to life on demand, with the simple push of a button, they flutter around the dial, animating a dreamy garden scene.

The flowers on the dial exhibit a mesmerising blue gradient, achieved through miniature vallonne enamel painting, and come accented with spessartite garnet pistils, tsavorite garnet-paved leaves, and plique-a-jour enamel grass blades. On the caseback, the sapphire crystal reveals engraved gold stems and enamel decals, forming an intricate floralscape that frames the oscillating mass.