Van Cleef & Arpels: A Planetarium on the Wrist (SIHH 2014)

Van Cleef & Arpels once again unveils an enchanting watch. The Midnight Planetarium complication allows its owner to wear a true miniature planetarium on the wrist. Drawing inspiration from the dance of the heavenly bodies, the watchmaking Maison has translated the concept of planetariums (mechanical objects much in vogue in the 18th century, which reproduced all or part of the solar system) into a watch. The Midnight Planetarium therefore depicts six planets. As you are particularly well-versed in astronomy, you are certainly asking yourself: why only six planets when the solar system has eight? Van Cleef & Arpels has chosen to represent only the planets visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Earth. Each planet follows its own orbit at its own pace around the sun at the centre of the dial, which draws its magnificent shimmering blue from aventurine, a variety of quartz. The planets’ procession is true to reality: Saturn will thus need more than 29 years to complete one revolution of the dial, 12 years for Jupiter, 687 days for Mars, 365 for Earth, 224 for Venus and, finally, 88 days for Mercury. The planets are hand-cut hard stones: turquoise for Earth, serpentine for Mercury, chloromelanite for Venus, red jasper for Mars, blue agate for Jupiter and sugilite for Saturn. The sun is, like the case, in rose gold. Explore the dial in search of the shooting star to tell the time. It travels around the outer edge of the dial in 24 hours. Minute-reading precision is not the watch’s priority, as the minutes are read approximately using the markers indicating the quarter-hours. The day, month and year are displayed in the two apertures. The date is set using two pushers, in either direction. The 396-part automatic movement is fitted with a rotor engraved with stars. Beyond the magic at work on the watch dial, the Midnight Planetarium holds another surprise: the lucky day. This most poetic function invites you to turn the bezel to position the red triangle on the day of your choice. The following year, on that same date, the Earth will align exactly beneath the star engraved on the crystal, reminding you that your magical day has arrived. As you will have gathered, Van Cleef & Arpels’ magic has worked its spell once again, even going so far as to omit the name Van Cleef from the dial or bezel so as not to disrupt the harmony of this work. History, poetry, métiers d’art, haute horlogerie… The Midnight Planetarium is irresistible.