VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

One of two new dance-inspired timepieces enriching the maison’s Extraordinary Dials collection for the first time, the Lady Danse depicts a solo dancer in the midst of a twirl.

On this 33mm white gold, manual-winding mechanical watch, the dainty subject sparkles with a single diamond-set face. Studded with rubies and hemmed with yellow gold, her ‘50s-style dress swishes as she performs an arabesque.

Her ballet slippers, adorned with the miniature painting technique, also catch the eye in scarlet red. Sculpted in relief, her silhouette contrasts beautifully against the dial’s backdrop

– a dynamic, three-dimensional marquetry of ornamental stones. To achieve this, white mother-of-pearl, turquoise and

chrysoprase are intricately cut, then carefully assembled side by side. The result: a striking effect of perspective that amplifies the dancer’s movement. The performance continues on the back of the watch, where an engraving offers a poetic

interpretation of the scene on the dial.