For the First Time, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Most Imaginative Timepieces are On Display in Melbourne

This month, Australia’s premier luxury destination, Chadstone Shopping Centre, is playing host to a world of pure imagination. A new winter pop-up exhibition, entitled ‘A Journey Through the Poetry of Time’, is inviting Melburnians to discover the remarkable horological universe of seminal high-jewellery maison Van Cleef & Arpels.

Held from July 17 to July 30, the new activation takes visitors on an enchanting voyage into a world where ballerinas dance across diamond stages and fairies sparkle under the shimmer of emeralds. For fans of the French luxury brand’s high-jewellery pieces, the exhibition is a no-brainer, but there are a few hidden delights for the watch lovers.

Up to 40 watches, comprising some of the brand’s most enduring collections, will be on display during the activation. Novelties from the Love Stories, Enchanting Nature, and Poetic Astronomy ranges will be on hand, expressing Van Cleef & Arpels’ ‘unique Poetry of Time’.

According to Van Cleef & Arpels, Poetry of Time is the ‘blend of inventiveness and fantasy which is at the forefront of watchmaking at the maison’. Time is expressed through movements of nature, feminine figures and love stories that come to life beneath the glass of dials.

With an emphasis on Van Cleef & Arpels’ profound watchmaking savoir-faire, the dedicated pop-up activation presents a rare opportunity to see some of the maison’s most remarkable pieces up close. For the first time ever in Australia, the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale watch will be available for viewing in both Diamond and Emerald iterations.

The high-complication timepiece, which features a stunning 18-carat white gold case, an animated dial and an innovative combination of a carillon and a music box, tells the story of choreographer George Balanchine’s chance encounter with Claude Arpels in the 1960s. A landmark moment in Van Cleef & Arpels’ pioneering history, the meeting of minds would eventually give rise to Jewels, a ballet created by Balanchine in 1967 that is inspired by emeralds, rubies and diamonds. With the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale, Van Cleef & Arpels has captured the remarkable beauty of dance in motion, demonstrating a level of refinement and finishing that few watchmakers can hold a candle to.

Poerty of Time also houses some of Van Cleef & Arpels’s best-known pieces, most notably the Pont Des Amoureux collection. Designed to celebrate the ‘intensity of a long-awaited rendezvous’, these stunning timepieces depict a scene where a young woman and a young man meet on a bridge in Paris.

The watch’s retrograde movement reveals the hours and minutes, respectively, with the two figures edging closer to one another. At the stroke of midnight (and also midday), they share a romantic kiss; however, an on-demand module also allows you to replay the romantic scene whenever you want.

Design-wise, the collection, including the masculine Midnight Pont des Amoureux, remains a feat of incredible creativity endeavour. Each dial is painstakingly enamelled by hand, a process that takes upwards of 40 hours, before being set expertly onto the white gold case. In truth, these watches must be seen to be believed, which is precisely the thinking behind the new Poetry of Time pop-up.

Whereas other brands have the luxury of banking solely on specifications or movements, Van Cleef & Arpels finds itself in the unique position of having too much to tout and not enough time to spruik it. From the high-complication movements and animated dials to the unparalleled grisaille enamelling and precious gem-setting, the brand is bullish in its pursuit of perfection, and it really shines up close. To see pieces, like the award-winning Lady Arpels Heures Florales, in person is to truly understand the level of detail and watchmaking savoir-faire that Van Cleef & Arpels has long embraced.

The Van Cleef & Arpels ‘Poetry of Time’ exhibition is free to enter and is located at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. The pop-up activation will run until July 30, with visitors encouraged to not only experience the maison’s savoir-faire but also write home about it. As part of the pop-up, Van Cleef & Arpels has provided a series of Paris-themed postcodes, which you can either take home or post to a loved one in one of the bespoke letterboxes.