Van Cleef & Arpels is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious maisons today. Established on Paris’ famed Place Vendôme in 1906, its jewellery creations are legendary. What’s perhaps less known is Van Cleef & Arpels’ place in the horological realm, where its creativity has taken time-telling in a very unique direction, using the skill of its master artisans to elevate watchmaking into incomparable storytelling.

Understandably, these pieces tend to be quite rare, and few watch enthusiasts will have had an opportunity to see them in person, so it’s with great pride that Hong Kong gets to host Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetry of Time exhibition, being held in Central until February 8th, 2026. Here, visitors can see many of the maison’s watchmaking creations gathered into one venue, along with detailed exhibits showing the delicate métiers d’art that the maison has called upon to bring them to life.

The fundamental philosophy that animates many of these timepieces is that there is a story to tell, beyond the watch or clock’s role as a timekeeper. Time, in itself, becomes almost secondary; although there are time indications, you are more likely to be absorbed in the piece’s story, especially when it comes to the automatons. As it goes well beyond the traditional hours and minutes displays, Van Cleef & Arpels’ watchmakers have been given all the resources and time necessary to develop the bespoke movements, paying attention to every little detail such that the story is told with the due care it deserves.

Several story lines are displayed throughout this exhibition. In Love Stories, the focus is on the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux and the Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux, expressing the love of a young couple with the extraordinary backdrop of the city that exemplifies the emotion, Paris. With the Pont des Amoureux, as the man paces back and forth each hour, the woman moves across the bridge over the course of several hours; they meet twice a day, at midday and midnight, for a brief kiss. The challenge for the watchmakers was to make the kiss last for a short time while the mechanism continues to correctly measure time. The Bal des Amoureux brings us to another romantic moment, with an automaton depicting the couple dancing in a traditional “guinguette”.

In Fairies and Ballerinas, the attention is drawn to the métiers d’art that are used to decorate the timepieces with the maison’s favourite motifs. The fairies’ delicately coloured transparent wings, made using the plique-à-jour enamelling technique, give them an ethereal look in the Lady Féerie watches, while the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale gives a musical backdrop to an animated ballet scene.

With the Enchanted Nature theme, we can see the amazing Lady Arpels Heures Florales timepiece. It is inspired by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus’ observation that different types of flowers bloom at specific times; in 1751, he thought that he could nurture a floral garden from which you could tell the time of day, based on which flowers were open. Van Cleef & Arpels has brought that vision to the Heures Florales, where the hours are shown through the number of open flowers on the dial. The mechanism is such that the pattern will not repeat within the same 24-hour period, giving the impression that the chosen flowers are random. There is the Lady Arpels Brise d’Été, where the on-demand mechanism will send two butterflies twirling around the dial while a gentle breeze seems to make the flowers sway, and the Lady Arpels Papillon Automate, with its garden of enamel leaves and flowers adorned with a butterfly that will gently flap its wings, either at random or with an on-demand animation, which has a secondary function, indicating the movement’s power reserve depending on how many times the wings flap.

Poetic Astronomy brings us to the stars, as envisioned by Van Cleef & Arpels, through various timepieces and jewellery dedicated to the zodiac constellations or the night sky. The most stunning piece is certainly the Planétarium automaton, a table clock that depicts the position of the planets around the Sun in real time, each astral object crafted as a beautiful jewel. The time and calendar functions are ensured through a perpetual calendar mechanism, but the display comes to life when the automaton is engaged: a bejewelled comet appears, circling the solar system once, then settling near the current hour display, all while the planets engage in a magical dance around the Sun, while the clock chimes a musical melody, before the comet once again is hidden and the planets resume their accurate positions.

This incredible exhibition will run at Central Pier 4, across the footbridge from IFC, daily from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m., with the last admission 30 minutes before closing. It’s a unique occasion to view Van Cleef & Arpels’ unique interpretation of time itself, a truly artistic and poetic approach dedicated to its mastery of the métiers d’art and jewellery, inspired by romance, stars, and nature.