Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Heure d’Ici & Heure d’Ailleurs; Timeless Appeal With A Twist

If there is one thing that Van Cleef & Arpels excels in, it is in creating classic watches with a twist. Even this twist is often subtle but does set the watch firmly apart from others. An excellent example of this is the legendary ‘Pierre Arpels’-model, which is essentially a very classic wristwatch, yet by fitting it with Vendome-lugs, it obtained a timeless appeal. The same can be said of the Midnight Heure d’Ici & Heure d’Ailleurs, yet with this watch, the twist can not only be found in its design but also in its movement.

With a 42mm large case is this Van Cleef & Arpels larger than your average classic dress watch. The benefit of this is that it gives it immediately a contemporary edge, although with the combination of black dial, rose gold case, and a black alligator strap, it retains its classic character. The black dial is a stunning creation with a deep sunburst pattern that adds a lot to the mix.

Where you would expect two gold hands, you will find only one. It also doesn’t make a complete rotation around the dial to tell the time but instead indicates the minutes on a scale that runs from six o’clock to ten o’clock. This scale is flanked by two windows, each showing an hour, turning this watch into one of the most subtle, and at the same time charismatic, dual time-zone watches available.

It might not come as a surprise that it is powered by a movement that is a mechanical marvel by itself. It is developed by Van Cleef & Arpels in collaboration with Agenhor and set itself apart from other movements by the intricate design of the bridges, and subtle yet very high-end finish. It gets its power from a platinum micro-rotor that winds in both directions. This movement, with its exceptional complications, make the Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Heure d’Ici & Heure d’Ailleurs a watch unlike any other. It is restrained in its design, yet still different in a tantalizing way. A retrograde minute hand combined with two jump hours is a real rarity, even in the world of high-end watches. It is pleasing to the eye, easy to read, but offers at the same time quite a spectacle when the full hour is reached and the minute hand flybacks and not one, but two-hour indicators jump to the next hour. This makes this Van Cleef & Arpels not only a unique dress watch but a pure horological delight whose appeal goes beyond the category of watches it belongs to.