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Lady Arpels Butterflies Vanessa watch by Van Cleef & Arpels

Watch dials

Van Cleef & Arpels' jewelled dials

Like many watch companies today, Van Cleef & Arpels is focusing on its niche, which, for this brand, means producing some of the world's most beautifully finished dials, harnessing the craftsmanship of watchmaking's Metiers D'Arts: marquetry, enamelling, engraving, gemsetting and high watchmaking.

The brand debuted its Midnight Maki-E Japanese Lacquer collection at the January 2010 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. The dials are crafted in a technique that has remained unchanged since the 17th century by Japanese artisan Hakose San, whose workshop is his boat - the main enemy of lacquer is dust, he explains, so he takes the dials out to sea, working on them away from dust and dirt. When the dials are dry, he heads for shore.

The enamelled dials of the Extraordinary Hummingbirds collection depict five different types of the bird, along with the particular flower to which each is attracted, and the Timeless Birds of Paradise collection combines enamelling with mother-of-pearl inlay and gold engraving.

Such rare craftsmanship doesn't come cheap - the watches range in price from $72,000 to $116,000. The new  Midnight California Landscape collection, fondly called "California Dreaming," is a celebration of the brand's 70th anniversary in the United States. Each dial depicts a scene from the state, including beaches, mountains, waterfalls and sunsets. They are sold as a set, priced at $495,000.

This year Van Cleef introduced three of what it terms poetic complications. The Pont des Amoureux is a retrograde movement with hour and minute indicators represented by a man and woman who meet at midnight for a kiss at the centre of a Paris bridge. The dial is crafted in the grisaille style, with white enamel mixed into a black background, producing a grey, nighttime effect. Enamel artist Dominique Baron of Stern Creations says it takes 45 hours for her to complete one dial, using 8-power magnification and working with a needle.

The second poetic complication, the Midnight Tourbillon Nacre, has mother-of-pearl engraved to depict the sun's rays, surrounding the open window of the tourbillon cage, (priced at $141,000.)

The third poetic complication consists of a pair of retrograde watches with butterflies crafted in stained-glass enamel, also crafted by Baron, over a mother-of-pearl or onyx dial and diamonds set into the bezel and lugs. They are sold as a set, for $495,000.