Van Cleef & Arpels "Pierre Arpels" La Collection - Gold & Steel - Small - 1985 (full set)

The one you end up buying in duplicate.

Description

The Pierre Arpels watch, known as the "PA 49", is entirely contained within a single line. A perfectly round case, a bezel encircled with 18-carat yellow gold and steel, Roman numeral hour markers, and nothing else. The design has barely changed since 1949, which speaks volumes about its timeless accuracy.

In this 24 mm format, the dial is reduced to the essential: the Maison's signature, the "Paris" mention, a slender second hand. No date, no window, nothing to disrupt the white. What makes this watch special are its attachments: delicate articulated gold and steel bars connect the case to the strap without visible lugs or soldering, so the watch simply appears to rest on the leather.

One last detail, unique to this model: a small medal with the Van Cleef & Arpels monogram is suspended from the buckle's tang. It is only visible when fastening the watch to one's wrist. This is exactly the kind of attention one expects from a jeweler.

How to wear it?

24 millimeters is the size of watches you keep for twenty years. It slips under a sleeve, matches a delicate bracelet, is easily forgotten... and the steel combined with gold allows it to coexist with whatever you already wear, whether yellow gold, white gold, silver or steel.

Françoise currently offers the same model in 30 mm: same attachments, same bezel, simply a matter of width. Worn side by side, the two watches form an obvious pair, and few models lend themselves so well to being shared.

Why did Françoise choose it?

Because at Van Cleef & Arpels, there is a way of making watches that is unlike anyone else's. The Maison is first and foremost a jeweler, and yet its most famous watch is the most stripped-down in its catalog. Françoise finds much elegance in this restraint.

She particularly likes this small model, even more rigorous than the larger one: without a date or window, only the design remains. It's an everyday watch from one of the great Maisons of Place Vendôme, and that's a statement not often heard.

History

The history of the Van Cleef & Arpels Maison began with the marriage of Estelle Arpels, daughter of a precious stone dealer, and Alfred Van Cleef, from a lineage of Belgian and Dutch artisans specializing in stone cutting. Charles, Louis, and Julien Arpels, Estelle's brothers, quickly joined their brother-in-law. The signature was registered in 1906, the year the first boutique opened at 22 Place Vendôme.

The PA model was designed in 1949 by Pierre Arpels, for himself. He had no intention of commercializing it: the watch was first reproduced for a select few, before entering the Maison's collections in 1971 under the name "PA 49".

It has never left. Available in multiple dials, materials, and sizes, it is still in the catalog today, faithful to the original design. It is one of the rare watch models that can be said to have never needed redesigning.