A French jewellery and watchmaker, Van Cleef & Arpels, will take part in the Only Watch auction for the third time. This year, it will be with its unique timepiece, called From the Earth to the Moon Watch. The company’s jewellery background had a lot of influence on the process of creating the watch – it features a truly original dial that was made from unusual materials, incorporated into an amazing scene that depicts one of the best-known works of Jules Verne. As a part of the Poetic Complication collection, the watch recreates Verne’s visionary book in which he anticipated space travel.
The interesting watch by Van Cleef & Arpels was preceded by a series of timepieces called Les Voyages Extraordinaires which consisted of four wristwatches, inspired by the novels by Jules Verne (Five Weeks in a Balloon, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, A Journey to the Center of the Earth and From Earth to the Moon). For Only Watch 2011, the company is once again exploring the latter Verne’s work as an inspiration. However, in this instance, the brand has created an even more unique wristwatch.
The uniqueness of the product can be clearly seen in the choice of materials, used to make the dial. The company used inlays of different materials such as jade, agate, meteorite and champlevé enamel. The way that this watch displays the correct time is also imaginative.
A Retrograde Display of Hours and Minutes
Minutes are shown on the retrograde display, on the right side. The space capsule, indicating minutes, moves downwards and returns to the top position where it reaches the sixtieth minute. There is also a very similar display of hours on the other side of the dial. Instead of a hand, Van Cleef & Arpels has used a star which moves up, and also comes back to the bottom position after pointing to the twelfth hour.
The clever system that shows the right time is powered by a JLC Caliber 846 manual-winding mechanical movement. In order to enable it to tell the time in a new manner, the movement is modified and supplied with a retrograde module.
It is also worth noting that Van Cleef & Arpels From the earth to the Moon Watch has a stainless steel case and a black alligator strap.
