VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Featuring Two Complications

The "Pierre Arpels Heures d’Ici et Heures d’Ailleurs" Arrives in Japan

Van Cleef & Arpels, a jewelry maison renowned for its immense popularity among women, also crafts poetic timepieces featuring various poetic complications. The highly anticipated model, equipped with an advanced mechanism displaying two time zones via jumping hours and minutes via a retrograde display, has finally launched in Japan.

Text by KAWADA Akinori

Elegance Uncompromised

In recent years, Van Cleef & Arpels has garnered significant attention from watch enthusiasts for its poetic complications, which unfold stories on the dial, and its astonishingly intricate astronomical models. Even in its simple men's dress watches, the brand's advanced watchmaking prowess shines through. The "Pierre Arpels," designed in 1949 by Pierre Arpels, a member of the founding family, and bearing his name, is known as an elegant collection for men.

The "Pierre Arpels Heures d’Ici et Heures d’Ailleurs," now released in Japan, is another masterpiece that combines an elegant form with an exceptionally sophisticated mechanism, sure to be coveted by watch aficionados.

At first glance, the simple dial is striking. It features only two windows where numerals would typically be. In reality, these windows succinctly express the watch's advanced mechanical ingenuity.

The two windows, located at the 11 and 5 o'clock positions, indicate the time using jumping hours. The window at the 5 o'clock position displays the local time, while the one at the 11 o'clock position shows the home time, making it a dual time zone model that elegantly invites the wearer on a journey.

The central hand on the dial indicates the minutes, displaying the time by sweeping across a scale printed from 5:30 to 10:30. Upon reaching 60 minutes, the hand instantly returns to the zero-minute position, employing a retrograde display that repeats its arc.

Despite housing these multiple complications, the case is finished with extreme thinness, ensuring that the collection's inherent elegance remains entirely undiminished.

The decoration on the white lacquer dial is also exquisite. The attachment system, which secures the strap at a single point at the 6 and 12 o'clock positions of the case, characteristic of this collection, further accentuates the watch's simplicity.

This model was unveiled last January at the SIHH, a prestigious watch fair held in Geneva featuring leading maisons. Its arrival in Japan had been eagerly awaited, and it stands as a compelling piece that builds anticipation for Van Cleef & Arpels' new creations at the upcoming SIHH in January 2015.