Time and space converge in a stunning watch piece by Van Cleef & Arpels. The Lady Arpels Planetarium, aptly named for its ability to show the positioning of the inner planets of our solar system, is one of the most unique and beautiful watches we have ever seen.
photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels
A dazzling blue sky with glittering "constellations", the newly popular Aventurine, is the base of the 38mm case, encrusted with brilliant-set diamonds. On the nearly imperceptible dials of the Aventurine hardsone backdrop are sparking miniature representations of the Sun (the central gold flared center), Mercury (mother of pearl), Venus (green enamel) and Earth. These three planets rotate the Sun in real time. Earth, naturally takes 365 days, while Mercury and Venus take 88 and 224 days, respectively. A tiny, brilliant diamond moon journeys around the Earth (turquoise) every 29.5 days.
No traditional hands disrupt the beautiful space scene depicted on this watch. Still, the outer edge of the dial features a small silver shooting star that travels around the dial every twelve hours to keep you in tune with the time when you're not busy being dazzled by the complicated mechanisms of this stunning watch.
Photo courtesy of Van Cleef and Arpels
The Lady Arpels Planetarium is a smaller version of the Midnight Planetarium watch for men. Both watches were developed with Christiaan van der Klaauw, expert in astronomic horological complications The Midnight Planetarium retailed for $245,000 back in 2014. The Lady Arpels Planetarium retails for $245,000 on a leather strap and a cool $330,000 on a diamond bracelet strap.
It's truly out of this world.
