Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
In 2006, the Van Cleef & Arpels' 100-year commemoration included the introduction of a new collection of incomparably designed watches, called Poetic Complications®.
The term complication in watch- and clockmaking refers to any added design feature, beyond just hours and minutes. Thus, for example, the design of seconds and the date, or of alarms and automatic rewind, are each considered additional complications in a given timepiece. These added functions require more parts and labor, both to design and integrate with the more basic hour and minute functions. They add layers of complexity to the timepiece.
Thus, the Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Complications® timepieces not only tell time, they have animated dials that tell enchanting stories of time, inspired by fairies and ballerinas, nature, astronomy, and love. The added animations, in combination with the art of high-end jewelry-making, create hugely more complicated timepieces, requiring thousands of hours to produce, and the collaboration of many different master craftspersons, as you can see in the included video, for just one of the Poetic Complications® timepieces.
The complications in this Poetic Complications® collection of timepieces are each patented inventions. The following European patents disclose a few of the complication inventions invoked in the Poetic Complications® collection of Van Cleef & Arpels watches.
- EP3242166 (A1) ― 2017-11-08 - Mechanism for triggering an animation
- EP3239786 (A1) ― 2017-11-01 - Mechanism for driving an animation of a clock movement
- EP3232275 (A1) ― 2017-10-18 - Winding mechanism for a timepiece comprising at least two barrels, and timepiece comprising such a mechanism
- EP3032356 (A2) ― 2016-06-15 - Musical watch
- EP2993533 (A1) ― 2016-03-09 - Timepiece
Reference
Van Cleef & Arpels - Poetic Complications®
Van Cleef & Arpels - The Story of Poetic Complications®
Van Cleef & Arpels - The Poetry of Time®
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