The newest Perlée timepiece defines the Maison's watchmaking and jewellery savoir-faire.

Since its official debut as a standalone collection&nbsp;in 2008, Van Cleef &amp; Arpels’ Perlée family&nbsp;has stood as the hero element in an elegant,&nbsp;tactile universe where a single historical&nbsp;motif is given room to breathe. Grounded&nbsp;in the perlée (golden bead) technique that&nbsp;has contoured the Maison’s creations since&nbsp;the late 1940s, the collection bridges the gap&nbsp;between sculptural graphic design and fluid&nbsp;wearable art.
When translated into horology, Perlée transforms&nbsp;time-telling into a purely precious gesture. Rather&nbsp;than allowing a crown to disrupt the smooth,&nbsp;geometry of its silhouette, the timepieces utilise a&nbsp;hidden setting button on the case back, ensuring&nbsp;that the double row of meticulously hand-polished&nbsp;golden beads can encircle the wrist as an unbroken ribbon of light.

At Watches and Wonders 2026, Van Cleef &amp; Arpels&nbsp;seamlessly expanded its “Poetry of the Heavens” theme&nbsp;into its most diminutive silhouette yet, unveiling a breathtaking&nbsp;23 mm Perlée timepiece in white gold and diamonds. While its&nbsp;delicate proportions personifies horological restraint, the dial&nbsp;pulls the infinite vastness of the cosmos into a sharp, intimate&nbsp;focus through a deep midnight-blue Murano aventurine glass.
To amplify the material’s natural, star-like mineral sparkle, the&nbsp;Maison introduces an innovative radiating guilloché technique&nbsp;engraved directly onto the fragile glass. Framed by a double row&nbsp;of pristine, hand-mirror-polished golden beads and an inner&nbsp;diamond-paved flange, this petite wonder proves that Van Cleef&nbsp;&amp; Arpels’ most profound technical and artistic triumphs are often contained within the most delicate dimensions.

Why the Perlée timepiece exemplifies the Maison’s dual&nbsp;identity as a high jeweller and a master watchmaker, both&nbsp;technical and artistic pillars come into play.&nbsp;The perlée bead is not a modern invention; it&nbsp;dates back to VCA’s Couscous collection in&nbsp;1948 and later framed the iconic Alhambra&nbsp;in 1968. As such it is part and parcel of the&nbsp;Maison’s jewellery expertise and repertoire&nbsp;of the art of the golden bead and gem-setting.
Each bead begins as a lost-wax casting but is&nbsp;reworked, rounded and mirror-polished entirely&nbsp;by hand. The alignment must be flawless to catch&nbsp;and throw light uniformly, solely dependent on the&nbsp;Maison’s immaculate hand craftsmanship. By hiding&nbsp;the time-setting crown on the case back, the watch&nbsp;functions primarily as a high-jewellery bangle or&nbsp;cocktail bracelet. The strict gem-sorting (diamonds&nbsp;must be D to F in color, IF to VVS in clarity) further&nbsp;reinforces the Maison’s jewellery pedigree in quality&nbsp;and excellence.

The métiers d’art employed in high watchmaking&nbsp;is evident in the making of the Perlée timepiece with the&nbsp;unprecedented material manipulation of guilloché on&nbsp;aventurine glass. Guilloché (engine-turning) is traditionally&nbsp;reserved for precious metals like gold or silver, or soft mother-of-pearl. Applying a radiating, linear engine-turned pattern to&nbsp;Murano aventurine glass is exceptionally high-risk because the&nbsp;glass is prone to shattering under the pressure of watchmaking&nbsp;tools.
Furthermore, aventurine glass requires an intensive&nbsp;manufacturing process — fusing mineral ores at 1,200°C and&nbsp;cooling the crucible slowly for a full month before it can even&nbsp;be cut into discs. By engraving a guilloché sunburst pattern&nbsp;into this glittering, copper-infused material, VCA creates a&nbsp;multidimensional depth for the Perlée watch dial that interacts&nbsp;dynamically with shifting ambient light.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Find out more on <a href="https://www.vancleefarpels.com/en/collections/watches/perlee-watches.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vancleefarpels.com</a>.</h3>

Van Cleef & Arpels reinvents the Perlée timepiece with aventurine glass

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