Van Cleef & Arpel trademarked the term "Poetic Complications" which consists of certain elegant but loosely horology-related complications. The French watchmaker specializes in jewelry and subsequently adorns its time pieces with expensive jewels. The addition of poetic complications such as the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Watch (lover's bridge) which has a man and a woman meet at midnight for a kiss at the top of the bridge. The watch is made of 18k white gold, lots of diamonds, the dial is hand painted and retails for $117,000.
In another masterpiece, the Midnight Planétarium watch displays six the movement of six planets around the sun and their position at an given time. The planets are Earth and Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Telling time is done by observing the position of the gold shooting star against the 24 hour scale. There's an interesting "good luck" complication which allows the watch owner to set a day of his choice on a graduated calendar which will result in planet Earth to move directly below the star engraved on the sapphire crystal. The Midnight Planétarium watch is available in a limited-reserve of 396 in 18-karat rose-gold for $245,000 and a diamond decorated version for $333,000.
Midnight Planétarium timepiece
Van Cleef & Arpel - Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Watch
