Van Cleef & Arpels unveils Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés: where time meets fairy tales

Two sculpted fairies, one in white gold, the other in rose gold, flutter across the scene. Long-standing emblems of the Maison, these playful figures appear to dance with time itself, their diamond-set wings dissolving into the gemstones along the bezel. The reverse of each watch holds an additional surprise: a ladybird on Framboise and a butterfly on Myrtille.

In transforming time into a poetic experience, artisanal savoir-faire is key to conjuring these miniature worlds. At the Geneva Watchmaking Workshop, home to both the enamel studio and its training academy, Van Cleef & Arpels nurtures and advances centuries-old techniques. For the Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés, enamel is paired with sculpted and treated gold. This dialogue of textures gives depth to the dials, creating the illusion of three-dimensional tableaux.

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While rooted in tradition, the Maison has continually refined enamelling, devising innovations that allow raised motifs to take shape. Each design begins with the workshop layout in mind, sometimes demanding years of research before perfection is reached. It is a meeting of science and artistry, where technical precision and imagination merge to tell the story of each watch. To realise these miniature sculptures, Van Cleef & Arpels developed the patented façonné enamelling technique after 16 months of research.

The glaze is poured into a mould and fired twice at tightly controlled temperatures. This removes internal stresses and produces a resilient enamel plaque, which is polished and carved to the desired form. The final firing at high heat sets the glaze, yielding a luminous, polished surface. The effect is striking, combining raised relief with translucent depths.

Traditional watchmaking arts, from sculpting to gold finishing, enrich the dial further, creating a delicate play of light and substance. The fairies’ silhouettes are first modelled in wax before a silver draft is made. A succession of manual steps follows, shaping the material into its final relief. Every stage is executed by hand, using fine jewellery tools, sometimes crafted specially by the artisans themselves.

Once the design is perfected, the form is cast into a mould to guarantee precision for subsequent iterations, which are then hand-engraved anew. Alongside this age-old artistry, the gold dial base undergoes subtle surface treatments, enhancing the play of reflections at the heart of the scene.

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