For 118 years, Van Cleef & Arpels has been adored by many. In 2025, however, the Maison decided to give love instead. Fittingly, this iconic luxury house, founded in 1906, was born from a love story, between Alfred Van Cleef, the son of a lapidary craftsman and diamond broker, and Estelle Arpels, the daughter of a precious stone dealer. The Maison Van Cleef & Arpels was established at Place Vendôme in Paris, where the couple opened their first boutique.
While it may not be official, I’d like to believe the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate, unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2025, is an ode to the couple that started it all. The scene it portrays is hauntingly romantic: a couple, clearly in love, enjoying a moment in a Parisian setting. Next to an open-air dance café, reminiscent of those that thrived in 19th-century Paris, the lovers meet under the soft glow of lanterns, sharing a graceful embrace at both noon and midnight, a moment that can also be re-created on demand at the push of a button.
We could speak at length about the Maison’s horological mastery, but first, I need to tear my eyes away from the dial’s breathtaking beauty. The cobblestone-paved background, the hour and minute hands represented by stars that follow a double retrograde path, the night sky’s depth achieved through five different planes using grisaille and colored grisaille enamel, it all evokes the chiaroscuro of a starlit night. It’s a masterpiece contained within a dial.
No small feat, it took Van Cleef & Arpels’ watchmaking experts four years of research and development. They also developed a bespoke automaton movement, entirely new to the Maison’s collection. The dial alone required about 40 hours of meticulous work and a dozen kiln firings to achieve the perfect interplay of tones and textures.
Amazingly, despite such intricate finesse, the Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate requires only four more components than its predecessor, and is actually slimmer. Crafted in white gold, it comes with a diamond bracelet and a matching blue strap. The timepiece features a self-winding mechanical movement, a double retrograde mechanism, an automaton, and an on-demand animation. Pricing is currently unavailable.
