They say necessity is the mother of invention and the idea of secret watches was spawned when the social mores at the turn of the 20th century had deemed it inappropriate for a woman to check time in public let alone wear a wristwatch.

How times have changed yet Van Cleef & Arpels has not stopped embracing the inventive piece it created in the 1920s—reinterpreting it time and again with unparalleled creativity.

In the ensuing decade of the 1930s as wristwatches were morphing into quintessential feminine accessories, the Maison capitalised upon this to transform them into precious objects to be worn as jewellery by way of the secret watch.

As the name suggests, secret watches are created with a skilfully hidden dial that allows the wearer to tell time and experience the passage of hours in the most discreet fashion.

A requisite then and a novelty now, the secret watches that have emerged from the ateliers of Van Cleef & Arpels are defined by the convergence of its beloved tradition of mystery and wonder with haute joallerie savoir faire.

Paying homage to the Maison’s fascination with nature’s metamorphoses, its secret watches are often riffs on flora, a recurrent theme in its design annals. Appearing to be bathed in sunlight, the petals of gem-studded flowers and leaves conceal an elegant dial which is revealed in a charming game of hide-and-seek.

Indeed, the heritage of secrète watches runs deep at Van Cleef & Arpels with a treasure trove of archive pieces ranging from its signature Ludo and Cadenas bracelet designs from the 1930s and 1940s to serpent-style silhouettes hailing from 1940 and 1953, along with a Renoncule (Buttercup) floral iteration from 1945 and a secret watch ring from 1944.

Le Jardin Van Cleef & Arpels

At SIHH 2018, an invitation to visit Le Jardin Van Cleef & Arpels was issued, leading to a rediscovery of the passage of hours through the lens of awe-inspiring flora.

Amid the eight floral High Jewelry creations are five sparkling secret watches—instilled with the rhythm, freshness and perpetual evolution of nature, one of the Maison’s go-to inspirations since 1906.

Taking the spotlight, a jewel-encrusted flower is posited at the core of each secret watch: Dandelion, Chrysanthème, Marguerite, Primerose and Cosmos—the first two being unique pieces.

An unmissable beauty, the striking Chrysanthème’s ample and chiselled corolla is mesmerising. When the pink gold cover, embellished with diamonds and pink sapphires, is lifted up using a hidden mechanism, a 10 mm dial affords a decorative view of autumn-hued spessartite garnets. The petals in a subtly gradated palette unfurl and spiral gracefully outwards— accented by pink and yellow gold leaves with diamonds, and a white gold and diamond bracelet.

It is significant how this flora secret watch exemplifies the Maison’s inimitable art of blending stones of varied shades as well as its peerless skill in shaping and combining different golds.

In contrast, the Marguerite, Primerose and Cosmos secrète watches are paired with grosgrain straps.

Featuring the effervescent spring-like daisy—blossoming in the Maison’s oeuvre since the 1920s— the Marguerite is rendered with a yellow sapphire heart that raises to present a diamond dial, reverberating through the sparkling petals. Notable about this piece is its embodiment of the Maison’s tradition of transformable creations—the ability of the design to transform into various styles: a piece of jewellery or timepiece, lending playfulness, functionality and versatility in catering to diverse occasions and moods. The Marguerite secret watch can be worn as a clip with its centrepiece holding court amidst yellow gold foliage in polished openwork, carved using ancestral goldsmith’s techniques.

Making its floral debut in Le Jardin Van Cleef & Arpels, the hollyhock featured in the Primerose secret watch evokes youth femininity. Its vibrancy—courtesy of carefully set diamonds and shades of pink sapphires on the petals—recreates the blossom’s three-dimensional convex form. An ingenious mechanism allows the secret dial to be uncovered by gently pressing one of the petals. The hollyhock bejewelled piece is also transformable and usable as a clip atop diamond-speckled yellow and white volutes.

The Cosmos secret watch exhibits one of the Maison’s signature blooms that first appeared in its creations in the 1950s. Covered with diamonds using the techniques of serti neige-style and beaded-grain settings, the inclined petals— surrounding the diamond dial hidden in the heart of the Cosmos bloom—depict a sense of movement, volume and asymmetry. Transformable, the Cosmos secret watch can be deconstructed and worn as a clip with a refined attachment of pink gold foliage set with diamonds.

Frivole Fest

Moving on to SIHH of 2019, the Maison’s Frivole collection enters the scene with two secret watches on centre stage. Breathing life into the glittering corollas famed for their skin-illuminating gleam, the Frivole family expands its repertoire with firstly, a 7-flower bracelet. The new aesthetic comprises a polished yellow gold bangle with shimmering floral motifs of different sizes combined in a poetic manner.

Unfurling around two or three diamonds, the heart-shaped petals are enhanced with the Maison’s mirror-polishing technique for magnified brilliance, and superimposed to create a three-dimensional composition. Marking its debut as a secret watch, the Frivole piece flaunts a luminous bouquet that delicately pivots to showcase a hidden dial paved with diamonds.

The second Frivole secret watch manifests in a bracelet-watch, rendered in white gold and paved with diamonds. Here, delicately-pivoting corollas similarly conceal a diamond-paved dial that reflects the passing of time. Boasting the Maison’s famed transformable design, the precious bouquet can multitask as a pendant and worn on a chain, or mounted on a jewellery structure as a clip.

Ludo Secret

At SIHH last year, Van Cleef & Arpels revisited one of its earliest sources of inspiration since being founded in Place Vendôme in 1906: couture. Replicated into the Ludo bracelet and subsequently, Ludo secret watch, the Ludo straddles High Jewelry and Watchmaking.

An emblematic Maison creation that became an instant hit after it was created in the 1934, it incidentally (and interestingly) bears the nickname of co-founder Louis Arpels.

Forwarding to 2020, the Maison launched the Ludo Secret range of five watches, segregated in two different styles. The set is now staged for the Maison’s resplendent golds and gemstones to light up the first Ludo series, starting with its trademark ruby or sapphire studding the hexagonal links of the belt-shaped flexible mesh, punctuated by a jewel-encrusted motif in lieu of the buckle.

Encapsulating three secret watches—each imbued with a captivating symmetrical rose motif, the design flaunts a luminous interplay of material and colour combinations. Think rose and yellow gold partnered with a myriad of gemstones from rubies and coral to chrysoprase, emeralds and sapphires, and lapis lazuli and blue and pink sapphires. The petals of the precious bloom come alive, depicted by gems of different sizes blossoming around a generous hard stone cabochon, circled with diamonds.

Again, the Ludo Secret watches are transformable; it can be worn sans the glimmering dial, replaced on the bracelet by a hexagonal mesh buckle set with precious stones. The bejewelled rose can also be detached and converted into a clip or a pendant to accessorise a long chain.

It goes without saying that the wonder of a secret watch and its hidden treasures are evergreen, everlasting and ever beautiful.

Visit vancleefarpels.com to find out more.

This article was originally published on www.lofficielmalaysia.com.