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For more than a century, Van Cleef & Arpels has pursued the dream of living in time with the cosmos. Awed by the spectacle of the stars and the heavens, the Maison pays tribute to celestial wonders through creations that express the full scope of its expertise. This year, Van Cleef & Arpels is expanding its Jour Nuit collection with the introduction of a new creation in honor of the Moon, a long- standing source of inspiration for the Maison. The watch features two overlapping complications housed within the case. The first animates the eponymous Jour/Nuit display, while the second "astronomical" complication illustrates the current Moon phase, a feature that entered the watchmaking history of Van Cleef & Arpels in 1929. Meanwhile, the Midnight Heure d'ici & Heure d'ailleurs watch offers a refined and poetic interpretation of time in two different corners of the planet. Every glance at the dial becomes a boundless invitation to wander, a window open onto the world. Ludo Secret watches celebrate the timeless elegance of one of Van Cleef & Arpels' signature designs: the Ludo bracelet, created in 1934. Calling to mind a belt, Ludo pieces perpetuate the Maison's distinctive taste for trompe-l'śil creations. In the meantime, the golden beads iconic of the Perlée collection come together in a shimmering circle to create a new, white gold model that offers a contemporary vision of jewels that tell time. Love sets the joyous cadence of the Poetry of Time, offering a vision of watchmaking suffused with dreams and emotion. This year, the poignant potency of this theme is providing Van Cleef & Arpels with the elan for a duet of Extraordinary Dials. These new creations tell the story of a legendary couple: Vega and Altair—also known as Niulang and Zhinu. Complementing one another, the watches express the wistful encounter of these lovers and the rapture of their reunion. A medley of blue, the Lady Rencontre Céleste watch portrays the couple, hands clasped, framed by a star-studded sky. The Lady Retrouvailles Célestes watch also brings this savoir-faire to life in gently glittering tones of pink and mauve. The background of the dial hints at the emotions harbored by the two characters standing before a crescent of mauve sapphires. In the field of watchmaking, Van Cleef & Arpels pays tribute to celestial wonders through the theme of Poetic Astronomy. Mechanisms, precious materials and expert craftsmanship unite to impart in each dial a sense of depth and fantasy. Animated or stationary, these immersive tableaux shrink the infinitely large to fit in a watch or automaton. They hold the promise of life in time with the cosmos, sweeping every gaze into a world of contemplation and reverie.
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