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Wed, Jan 21, 2026 | Shaban 2, 1447 | Fajr 05:45 | DXB 
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Van Cleef & Arpels unveils Brassée de Lavande automaton, showcasing 'poetry of time'
Unveiled at Dubai Watch Week, it features a butterfly that rises from a lacquered gold bouquet, inviting collectors to pause and 'savour' time
For more than a century, Van Cleef & Arpels has nurtured a poetic vision of high jewellery and watchmaking — one where imagination leads the way and mechanics follow quietly in service of beauty. At the recent Dubai Watch Week 2025, the maison presented a journey into this enchanted world. The exhibition, titled ‘Poetry of Time’, transformed the Burj Park venue into an immersive cabinet of curiosities. Archival documents and patrimonial pieces mingled with workbenches, while alcoves dedicated to ballerinas and fairies, poetic astronomy, romantic tales, and nature encircled the central floor — inviting visitors to step into the magical worlds the maison has long brought to life.
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The highlight was the unveiling of a new one-off piece: the Brassée de Lavande automaton. Measuring around 27 cm tall, the automaton conjures a mesmerising lavender bouquet in lacquered rose gold, veiled under which hides a secret world of delicate motion. At the press of a button, the sprigs curl back, leaves flutter, and a butterfly rises, its wings crafted in openwork white-gold structure filled with plique-à-jour enamel. The butterfly’s body is carved from tiger’s eye, the eyes set with amethyst cabochons, antennae tipped with diamonds. As the wings spread, a soft melody begins to play — the automaton rotates slowly on its verdite base, the hours read on a 360-degree golden ring set with diamonds.
For Van Cleef & Arpels, the mechanics are always in service of the story. As Rainer Bernard, Head of Research and Development for Watchmaking, puts it, “We always start with a story… and then only we start to work on the engineering.” The aim is never to flaunt complexity, he explains, but to animate a story. “So, the poetry of time sits in the fact that we indicate the time through these stories, a little bit hidden, and always, we make you work a little bit, because you have to take the time to read the time. It’s not a clock with two big hands shouting the time right into your face. You have to work a little bit. You have to slow down. You have to count flowers,” Bernard explains, pointing at the Brassée de Lavande.
The brand’s Poetic Complications and Extraordinary Dials collections are shaped first by nature, ballet, and feminine grace — recurring themes in the Van Cleef & Arpels universe. Unlike traditional watchmaking, here the complication hides — gently — behind emotion and artistry. Time is suggested through a poetic lens: flowers that open and close, lovers walking across a bridge, or a shooting star one must search for across a midnight sky.
Working in high jewellery adds complexity — but at Van Cleef & Arpels, mechanics serve creativity, not the other way around. Bernard underscores this philosophy: “The mechanical components, systems, and assemblies we do are there to bring to life the high jewellery part, and not the other way around. We don’t see it as a disturbance. We see it as a service.” This became particularly relevant in developing the Brassée de Lavande, he says. “All the flowers are in gold… very dense and very heavy. So, when the bouquet opens, you have gravity pulling the flowers down. But to bring them up — how do you do that?” The team devised a unique system: “You charge a spring system when the flowers go down, and then you reuse this energy to bring them back up,” Bernard explains. Every element — from the thickness of a wing to the curve of a leaf — influences its motion. It is a constant dialogue between beauty and performance. Bernard shares that even the sounds of these creations are considered: the delicate rustle of a wing, the soft click of a ballet movement.
Walking through the exhibition, one could sense the maison’s conviction: time need not always be measured — sometimes, it is meant to be savoured. That is the essence of the Poetry of Time. In a world driven by seconds and minutes, Van Cleef & Arpels invites us to pause, to look, and listen — to let time unfold as an enchantingly beautiful story. And with Brassée de Lavande, that story blooms, petal by petal.
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