(defsoneanddone) One & Done - Chapter Four (Van Cleef & Arpels)
Foreword
Welcome and welcome back! If you're new here, I'm exploring the top 20 best-selling watch brands of 2022 (as seen on GQ Australia) and answering the question: If I could only have one watch from this brand FOREVER, which one would I pick?
Today we are looking at Van Cleef & Arpels, but if you want to see my previous article where I covered Chopard, follow #defsoneanddone or click the link here!
As always, tell me what you think! What watch from this brand would YOU want forever? I'd love to hear from you!
#17: Van Cleef & Arpels - Midnight in Paris
Van Cleef & Arpels is a horological enigma to me. Like the Abed Nadir of watchmaking, it’s brilliant to see how their mind works, but everything they do, in the words of Pierce Hawthorne, is “terrifying, and nothing [they say] ever [makes] sense to me.”
If you got that reference, you are truly streets ahead.
There is no denying, however, that in both the world of high jewellery and the world of haute horlogerie, they have the skills to pay the incredibly heavy bills, especially since everything they make has, like, at least a hundred million different gemstones in them. Spec-wise, the 30h power reserve of the JLC849 powering the VC&A Midnight in Paris is laughable in the face of even the lowest of low-end mechanical watch brands, there is an incredibly intricate method to the seeming madness on paper.
You see, the movement of the Midnight in Paris is what is referred to as a “Quantième de Saison,” which rotates the entire, constellation-filled aventurine/meteorite dial to an imperceptible one degree per day, allowing the user to trace the stars on the dial as they happen in the Parisian night sky. The external design of the watch is of as much brilliance as the internal movement, housing the engineering miracle inside a case of only 40mm, making for a surprisingly wearable watch for something that gives you the entire galaxy on your wrist.
I mean, if it's good enough for Iron Man, it's good enough for me. Also I didn't study this photo closely, so maybe this photo is completely unrelated. or is it?
While I love the contrast and general readability of the rose gold variant of Midnight in Paris, something always pulls me back to the white gold time and time again. I think that, despite my general indifference to Van Cleef & Arpels, a timepiece like this is worthy of any watch buff’s respect, and if it was ever fused to my wrist, Ben 10 style, I would be perfectly fine with it. Unless of course I was never allowed to visit Paris to experience the magnitude of what this watch brings for myself.
Be sure to follow the hashtag #defsoneanddone to keep up with my next post! Panerai up next - sure to be a doozy! :)
I am not Gerald Genta. I like to draw watch ideas. They usually suck. #defsnotgenta for more.
This time I can't find it on the website. I feel the old tradition of secret rooms is being perpetuated in these ultraluxury websites.
https://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/e-boutique/category/all-watches.html
So I'll have to concur by default as nothing I could find was more my tastes than those of Liberace or Elton John. I'm not sure if this serves any use if too far from France or ever, but it is a neat trick and, again, the kind of innovation that just isn't being done by the stodgy big names. But I think there are a couple reasons this brand is off my radar.
This time I can't find it on the website. I feel the old tradition of secret rooms is being perpetuated in these ultraluxury websites.
https://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/e-boutique/category/all-watches.html
So I'll have to concur by default as nothing I could find was more my tastes than those of Liberace or Elton John. I'm not sure if this serves any use if too far from France or ever, but it is a neat trick and, again, the kind of innovation that just isn't being done by the stodgy big names. But I think there are a couple reasons this brand is off my radar.
My wallet gives me enough reason as to why this brand is constantly off my radar :(
My wallet gives me enough reason as to why this brand is constantly off my radar :(
As I said, a couple of reasons.
This time I can't find it on the website. I feel the old tradition of secret rooms is being perpetuated in these ultraluxury websites.
https://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/e-boutique/category/all-watches.html
So I'll have to concur by default as nothing I could find was more my tastes than those of Liberace or Elton John. I'm not sure if this serves any use if too far from France or ever, but it is a neat trick and, again, the kind of innovation that just isn't being done by the stodgy big names. But I think there are a couple reasons this brand is off my radar.
It's out of stock (no wonder considering the bargain price of just under 100k) - but can be found here: https://www.vancleefarpels.com/nl/en/collections/watches/poetic-complications/vcarn5hi00---midnight-in-paris-watch.html
So yeah, prices can be prohibitive (and sometimes style too, see their Blooms series 😬) - but VCA makes some impressive watches. For instance the Planetarium (in which the ring which Saturn is ons takes 29 (!) years to complete a full circle).
James Bond: Tiffany Case? Definitely distinctive.
Tiffany Case: I was born there, on the first floor, while my mother was looking for a wedding ring.
James Bond: Well, I'm glad for your sake it wasn't Van Cleef & Arpels