Van Cleef & Arpels looked to an 18th century Swedish botanist for their new Lady Arpels Heures Florales collection
Inspired by the 1751 book by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus Philosophia Botanica, Van Cleef & Arpels has launched a whimsical and wonderfully poetic new watch.
Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, is often referred to as the "father of modern taxonomy" with one of his many ideas in the field being the creation of a floral clock. Based upon his daily studies of plants and flowers, he produced a broad survey of the times of day when each flower species opens and closes.
An intriguing thought. And even more fascinating and enigmatic as a wristwatch created by Van Cleef & Arpels and presented this spring during Watches & Wonders 2022.
The enchanting Lady Arpels Heures Florales turns the dream of a floral clock into reality, with a three-dimensional dial featuring 12 corollas that open and close at different times, changing the dial's appearance every 60 minutes.
Drawing inspiration from flora and fauna, Van Cleef & Arpels' creations celebrate the spectacle of a benevolent nature constantly renewed. In the Maison's collections, time flows by in harmony with the endless cycle of the seasons.
Inspired by Linnaeus' imaginary flower clock, the Lady Arpels Heures Florale watches give a new dimension to the Maison's theme of 'Enchanting Nature' by offering a poetic way of telling time. These timepieces reinterpret the flower clock, where time is told by counting the number of opened flowers. The animation shows a nature in movement, inspired by the cycle of flowers opening and closing depending on the time of the day.
The indication of minutes appears on the side of the watch. And every time another 60 minutes passes, some corollas close and others open. Admittedly it takes time (no pun intended) to read the time on the Lady Arpels Heures Florales. But once you break the code, you will find its whimsical showing of time truly magical.
There are two versions of the Lady Arpels Heures Florales, both offering 38 millimetre case diameters. The Lady Arpels Heures Florales comes in white with blue and green flowers and is set with 424 precious stones in 5.06 carats. Meanwhile the Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier combines a rose gold case with flowers in pink and red and a poetic white mother-of-pearl dial that is a rich mix of round buff-toped pink sapphires, marquetry, miniature painting and flowers in white gold, yellow gold and colourful round diamonds with a total of 5.1 carats. Both variants offer diamonds and sapphires in a luxurious mix of DEF, IF and VVS quality.
Part of the Poetic Complications Collection, Lady Arpels Heures Florales and Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier both offer a rose gold case and are powered by an automatic movement manufactured in Valfleurier. The Maison's artisans developed the flower-opening module for the hours and lateral minutes display, which features no less than 166 moving parts and elements, in Geneva.
These two extraordinary watches are priced at €251,472 each and are offered with two interchangeable straps and one interchangeable pin buckle set with diamonds.
Perhaps such intricate, dazzling watches are not for everyone. But it's hard not to be intrigued by the brilliant craftsmanship and über creative thinking that has made these timepieces possible. And for me, as a lover of everything horological, the Lady Arpels Heures Florales and Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier offer a fascinating mix of extraordinary craftsmanship and a fascinating approach to modern haute horlogerie.