Van Cleef & Arpels is historically known as a high jeweler. How has the Maison combined jewelry and watches? President and CEO Nicolas Boss explains.
Edited & Text by Yukiya Suzuki (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published in the July 2024 issue of Kronos Japan]
Communicating with those who read specialist magazines rather than the masses
President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. He joined the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in 1992 and began his career at the Richemont Group. In 2000, he joined Van Cleef & Arpels, serving as Creative Director and Marketing Director for the high jewelry maison. After serving as Vice President of the maison, he was appointed President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels in January 2013. He has led the maison to further growth with numerous masterpieces of watches and automata that embody "Poetic Complications," a poetic interpretation and expression of complex mechanisms that transcend the boundaries of high jewellery.
"Our starting point is always the image and identity of the Maison. Watchmaking and jewelry making begin with the same story and the same source of inspiration. In terms of team composition, rather than having separate watch and jewelry teams, we always work together, and in the design studio we design both jewelry and watches. We think of the watches, jewelry, and objects that are created from this as a means, so to speak, to convey the identity of the Maison."
Does that mean that all items are created with the same concept?
“I believe the most important strategy is for both jewelry and watches to be moving in the same direction and to have a strong, shared identity. We believe it is important to faithfully tell the same story while exploring different ways of expression, namely through mechanisms that can only be embodied in watches, and to express the same story and the same philosophy of the Maison through mechanisms that can only be expressed in automata in the case of objets d'art, and through various stationary forms in the case of jewelry.”
You've previously said that you don't do marketing, so why do you think you've been so successful?
"There are various definitions of marketing, but in terms of the commonly used definition, we certainly do not start with the products that the market expects, but rather with the works that we ourselves desire. This is what makes us different from mass-produced products. However, by utilizing the Watches & Wonders Geneva exhibition, we are able to introduce Van Cleef & Arpels' works to as many people as possible. Of course, we do our job of 'marketing' with an understanding of the significance of this activity, and we believe that it is very important."
As a result, Boss asserts that widespread recognition is the key to their current success: "We want people to think it's beautiful at first glance, and we also want many watch enthusiasts to enjoy the effects of these dynamic animations. In other words, our goal in marketing is to appeal to the audience who read specialist magazines rather than the 'mass' audience."
This new model expresses the worldview of "Poetry of Time," in which butterflies, embodied in plique-à-jour enamel on white and yellow gold, take flight using an on-demand module and tell the time while swaying flowers and stems. The essence of this "poetic complication" can be seen in the playfulness of the flowers and stems, which never sway uniformly. Automatic winding. Power reserve of approximately 36 hours. 18KWG case (38mm diameter). Water resistant to 3 bar. Price: 28,776,000 yen (tax included). Scheduled for release in October.
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