This year, Van Cleef & Arpels has added a playful twist to its Extraordinary Dials collection—a pair of fairies dancing through a woodland filled with raspberries and blueberries, mid-movement across the dials of two new extraordinary watches. Just like any other creation by the French Maison, stories through craft come first. The Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés Myrtille and Framboise watches are the latest examples of this approach. Each one opens a window into a magical world where berries are plump as the delicate fairies drift playfully across carefully detailed dials, all housed in radiant golden cases with the Maison’s signature beading.
As fine watchmaking continues to evolve, more brands are turning their attention to women’s watches, not simply by shrinking men’s models but by creating something new. At the same time, jewellery is becoming increasingly present in men’s collections as well. That is where extraordinary watch dials truly shine, offering something technically refined, artistically rich, and visually stunning.
rose gold, white gold, diamonds, enamel, miniature painting, Swiss quartz movement.
white gold, rose gold, diamonds, enamel, miniature painting, Swiss quartz movement.
The Perlée beads here might seem like a small detail, but they’ve been part of the Maison’s identity since the 1920s—first used to outline stones or soften the edges of a design. By the 1940s and ’60s, they were showing up more often, and in 1968, they framed the motifs of the now-iconic Alhambra collection. By 2008, Perlée was given its own dedicated line. This year’s Fruits Enchantés, housed in a case framed by beads of white or rose gold, builds on that legacy. It captures that same energy and joyfulness through colourful and detailed elements within the watch that feel alive with movement.
The Framboise watch has a pair of white gold fairies dancing among sculpted raspberries. The fairies’ deep pink tones were made using an intricate enamel method. Known as façonné enamel, the process involves carefully pouring enamel powder into a mould before firing it in a kiln at exact temperatures. After the first firing, the enamel is polished, carved, and fired again at a lower temperature. The aim is to eliminate stress in the material and create a solid slab of enamel that can be shaped in three dimensions. The result is depth, volume, and vibrant colour. This technique is so complex that it can take up to 16 months to perfect.
On the Myrtille model, a rose gold fairy floats gently above glossy blueberries, opening her parachute as time passes beneath her. Her silhouette begins as a wax model before being cast.
The figurine is then completely hand-shaped, engraved, and refined by talented artists. Once the fairy’s final shape is achieved, a mould is made to allow for consistent reproduction, though each piece is still finished by hand. The delicate textures and tones of actual blueberry leaves are meticulously replicated through the use of tiny brushstrokes and the miniature painting method. Another layer of depth is added to the composition by softly texturing the dial’s background to improve the illumination. Even the back of the watch carries a personal touch, with a tiny ladybird engraved on the Framboise model and a butterfly hidden on the Myrtille, both of which are powered by quartz movements.
Up to 300 hours are needed to create each watch, and a large portion of the work is done in the Geneva workshops using methods and equipment that have been handed down through the centuries. These kinds of artisanal knowledge are increasingly rare and are part of what makes these watches stand out. At a time when many luxury watches are starting to look similar, the Fruits Enchantés collection proves that creativity, care, and a bit of fantasy can still surprise us.
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