Ludo Secret Watch

POETRY OF THE HEAVENS

Watches and Wonders 2026

For more than a century, Van Cleef & Arpels has pursued the dream of living in time with the cosmos. Awed by the spectacle of the stars and the heavens, the Maison pays tribute to celestial wonders through creations that express the full scope of its expertise. As of 1929, it designed a pocket watch fitted with a complication showing phases of the Moon. In the 1950s, Van Cleef & Arpels once again turned its gaze to the night sky, especially with the Meteor secret watch.

This year, the Maison is observing the Moon’s subtle variations through a new Poetic Complications timepiece. The hours of Poetic Astronomy tick by in harmony from one time zone to the next, within an elegant setting highlighting the art of enamel. Meanwhile, Van Cleef & Arpels’ jewels that tell time interpret the boundless depth of the sky in rare materials. Finally, the Extraordinary Dials collection welcomes two new watches—legendary tales of love set against a celestial backdrop.

"Watches and Wonders 2026 gives us the opportunity to again showcase our Poetic Complications collection. Born in 2006 with the Lady Arpels Centenaire watch and its Quantième de Saison movement, this assortment instills emotion thanks to the confluence of watchmaking expertise and a narrative vision of passing time. Over the years, these creations have become iconic embodiments of the Poetry of Time dear to Van Cleef & Arpels. This conception is further enriched today with a new and enchanting chapter."

Ludo Secret

Ludo Secret watches celebrate the timeless elegance of one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature designs: the Ludo bracelet, created in 1934. Calling to mind a belt, Ludo pieces perpetuate the Maison’s distinctive taste for trompe-l’oeil creations. Resonating with the world of couture, they met with great success from the very beginning.

The new sapphire Ludo Secret watch perpetuates this tradition, revisiting a model from 1949. It cradles the wrist with a bracelet composed of mirror-polished yellow gold “briquette” links, carefully assembled and adjusted by hand. Joined in a flexible mesh, they seem to be delicately woven together. The sunny glow of the yellow gold mingles with the intense blue of the sapphires in a harmony of contrasts. Set on the gold surface, the gemstones form generous crescent motifs. Simultaneous pressure on the two sides of the jewelry “buckle” reveals a white guilloché mother-of-pearl dial. As a final touch of elegance, a baguette-cut sapphire serves as the 12:00 marker.

Meticulous selection of sapphires

Knowledge of precious stones and a quest for excellence have been at the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels’ identity since its founding in 1906. The Maison’s expertise in the field of colored stones was born of transmission, with successive generations of craftsmen passing down a discerning eye and a specific taste. For the Ludo Secret watch, gemologists selected sapphires according to Van Cleef & Arpels’ demanding criteria, matching the stones based on shared features. Sapphires were thus chosen for their intense color, a limpid and consistent blue, as well as the purity of their essence and the quality of their cut. Set in yellow gold, they reveal their velvety azure hue in a gradient of diameters that further heightens the impression of beaming radiance.