Pont des Amoureux by Van Cleef & Arpels
The actual Pont des Amoureux is a French bridge going over the Thiou River in Annecy, a town also known as the Venice of France. The fabled bridge earned a reputation throughout the years as a rendezvous place for couples in love.
This is not your typical watch. It has a story, a romantic and poetic one. Two figurines travel along respective hour or minute retrograde dials to display the time. The delicate figure of the woman carrying an umbrella serves as the hour indicator, while the man, secretly holding a flower behind his back, points to the minutes. The retrograde display has been further complicated by the fact that upon hitting the 12 o’clock hour, the lovers meet at the center for a kiss. The concept, while seemingly quite simple, was actually an incredibly arduous feat of engineering.
The bridge depicted on the dial isn’t the actual Pont des Amoureux, but a fairy tale rendition conceived by Van Cleef & Arpels. Background of the face is the contre-jour enamel painting of the buildings and starry night in gray tones tha was completely done by hand.
It is a remarkable and beautiful timepiece for a lady, further enhanced by the story behind its design and construction. I would love to have one but priced at $116,000 would only make me dream about it.
I was in Las Vegas in January for CES 2011 show and visited a Van Cleef & Arpels retail store. I went in to check if they have this watch on display, hoping I could just wear it on my wrist for a few seconds. But...very disappointed that the store didn't have it sighhh~~~~
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