Van Cleef and Arpels

Founded as a French jewelry company in 1896, the Van Cleef & Arpels brand evolved into a producer of fragrances, watches, and other small accessories. The brand fused together its two expertises, watchmaking and jewelry, to produce highly complex mechanisms and high-jeweled timepieces. The automaton series, Poetry of Time, gained critical acclaim for its construction and artistry where its Poetic Complications such as Métiers d' arts dial exhibit a butterfly whose wings actually flutter within the display.