Van Cleef & Arpels' 2021 new Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Watch features a carillon and music box playing ballet music.

Van Cleef & Arpels has unveiled three new ballet-themed timepieces, embodying the Maison's signature watchmaking theme of "Poetry of Time." A lover of beauty and harmony, Van Cleef & Arpels has drawn endless inspiration from the world of ballet for decades. The new Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Watch is the Maison's first complication to combine music with a watch movement, offering a feast for the eyes and ears.

Three Poetic Complications

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  The curtain is closed. Pressing the pusher at 4 o'clock rotates the disc and raises the curtain.
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  The disc slowly rotates, a ballerina appears, and music begins. The disc rotates once in 20 to 25 seconds, and the music ends.
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  The crown is adorned with jewels of the same color as the beautiful tutus and stage curtains worn by the ballerinas.
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  One full winding allows for three plays, each with a different music.
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  The ballerina is painted on ruby-coloured enamel using the miniature painting technique.
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  The time was around 9:20. The star motif is a homage to the Paris Opera's top dancers, the "Etoiles."
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  The gold dial is enameled and then hand-engraved with a stage curtain
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  The diamonds are set on thin gold wires rather than in the case, a technique called "chatonnage," which amplifies the sound even through the gaps between the diamonds.
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  Unusually for a watch, all diamonds are of the highest quality, DEF (colorless), and all clarity is of the highest quality, VVS.

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Van Cleef & Arpels and Ballet

　The non-narrative piece is divided into three acts, each associated with a jewel and a composer: Act 1, "Emeralds," by Gabriel Fauré; Act 2, "Rubies," by Igor Stravinsky; and Act 3, "Diamonds," by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The ballet "Jewels" is expressed through sound and dial movement

　Each timepiece features a combination of gemstones and motifs inspired by the choreography of each act of the ballet "Jewels." The Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Emerald Watch is bathed in delicate nuances of green, while the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Ruby Watch shimmers in exquisite red tones. The Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Diamond Watch dazzles with bold white, blue, and gold hues. The crown at the top of each model's case is adorned with a precious stone of the same color as the dial.

Savoir-faire extends to the case back

　The timepiece's story continues on the back of the case, where a bas-relief engraving depicts a ballerina dancing in front of the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique on New York's Fifth Avenue.

The unique sounds of the music box and carillon

The movement incorporates a highly complex carillon mechanism, which uses four hammers to strike surrounding gongs to produce four notes (see bottom photo).

Assembling a music box disc. The comb teeth that play the music box pins can be seen at the back of the circular disc.

The music box's diaphragm is fitted with ten tines. Pins attached to the base of the rotating disc (behind the dial), which creates a visual animation effect, strike these tines to produce sound. When the carillon's four gongs are struck by the same number of hammers, a different tone is added to the music box. These two instruments, like a piano, had to be meticulously tuned to play the 20- to 25-second melody in perfect pitch. To stabilize the rhythm of each piece, a centrifugal governor adjusts the torque of the barrel that turns the dial, maintaining a constant speed. Thus, the completed, beautiful melody can be played three times in a row.

A fusion of expertise that took 10 years to develop

This new piece recreates the complex melodies of three classical pieces for music box and carillon: Gabriel Fauré's "Pelléas et Mélisande" (1898), Igor Stravinsky's "Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra" (1929), and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 3" (1975). The three pieces have been simplified and arranged specifically for the music box and carillon, delivering melody and harmony with clarity, precision, and grace. The Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Ruby Watch, for example, plays Stravinsky's "Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra" using 92 notes, 69 of which are for the music box and 23 for the carillon.

Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Emerald Watch

The pieces to be played are Gabriel Fauré's "Pelléas et Mélisande" (1898) and "Shylock" (1889). The piece consists of 49 notes, 33 of which are from the music box and 13 from the carillon.

Manual winding. 47 jewels. 21,600 vph. Power reserve approximately 54 hours. Retrograde hour and minute display. 18KWG (diameter 44.5mm, thickness 14.45mm). Set with 742 diamonds (7.92 cts). Emerald on the crown (0.15 cts). Price: 47,160,000 yen (excluding tax).

Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Diamond Watch

The piece being played is Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 3, Op. 29" (1875). The piece is played on 61 notes, 34 of which are from the music box and 27 from the carillon.

Manual winding. 47 jewels. 21,600 vph. Power reserve approximately 54 hours. Retrograde hour and minute display. 18KWG (diameter 44.5mm, thickness 14.45mm). Set with 743 diamonds (7.92 cts). Price: 47,160,000 yen (excluding tax).

Lady Arpels Ballerine Musical Ruby Watch

The piece being played is Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (1929), which is played with 92 notes, 69 of which are from the music box and 23 from the carillon.

Manual winding. 47 jewels. 21,600 vph. Power reserve approximately 54 hours. Retrograde hour and minute display. 18KWG (diameter 44.5mm, thickness 14.45mm). Set with 742 diamonds (7.92 cts). Ruby on the crown (0.15 cts). Price: 47,160,000 yen (excluding tax).