Leaving work I was lured by beautiful eerie music blocks away. Following the sound I found these magical little miniature worlds being unveiled for the first time. Silver magic ships. Van Cleef & Arpels, 5th Ave, NYC, 15 Nov 2010.
These graceful, dancing figures were the first female representations of Van Cleef & Arpels. Unpredictable and capricious, the fairies cast their spells to weave and unweave the delicate fabric of desire, and are transformed into clips with diamond faces. Among them, the Fairy clip (circa 1940) in platinum, rubies, emeralds and diamonds, and the Spirit of beauty fairy clip (1944) bought by Barbara Hutton as a present for a friend Jean Morley Kennerley at Van Cleef & Arpels Beverley Hills boutique in the 1940s, in platinum, diamonds, rubies and emeralds seem to gracefully fly in an enchanted universe. Fairy clip Platinum, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, circa 1940 Van Cleef & Arpels' Collection
For these particular timepieces in "Les 4 Voyages" collection, Dominique Baron, the specialist to whom Van Cleef & Arpels has entrusted the enamelling of these dials, employs the technique of paillonné enamel. The first layer consists of a very fine sheet of gold or silver onto which several coats of translucent enamel are then applied. With this precious metal as its base, the enamel dramatically increases in brilliance.
The dial, decorated with champlevé enamel and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, depicts a hot air ballon rising into the air of Zanzibar.The hours and minutes are indicated by the retograde movement of the balloon's anchor and a bird in flight. Inspired by Jules Verne's first novel penned in 1863. In this adventure story, three explorers travel across the Africa continent in a hot-air balloon filled with hydrogen.
