Few timepieces steadiness symbolism, artistry, and historic affect as elegantly as Van Cleef & Arpels’ Cadenas watch. Since its introduction in 1935, the Cadenas – French for padlock – has been an emblem of technical ingenuity and stylistic subversion. One of many French maison’s most emblematic creations, the timepiece can also be a nod to creative and societal narratives of the early twentieth century.
The Cadenas emerged in an period when society dictated that ladies ought to seem unconcerned with the passage of time and checking one’s watch was thought of rude in refined firm. Van Cleef & Arpels solved the dilemma with a sublime answer. Breaking from typical watch design, the Cadenas’ cleverly angled dial was discreetly oriented towards the wearer, permitting her to subtly look on the time with out showing rude. Van Cleef & Arpels’ ingenious workaround wasn’t a hat-tip to social etiquette, however a delicate revolt artfully expressed by means of magnificence. A 1936 commercial for the watch even celebrated the concept of “peeking on the time”, highlighting its suitability for refined society whereas quietly difficult its restrictions.
However past its sensible innovation, the Cadenas additionally engaged in an mental dialogue with the artwork world. Impressed by the padlock – an on a regular basis object transposed right into a valuable murals – its design echoed the avant-garde spirit of the readymade idea launched by Marcel Duchamp. The influential French artist’s work within the 1910s and Nineteen Thirties challenged the definitions of magnificence and utility. On this spirit, the Cadenas watch marries the abnormal with the extraordinary, reworking a utilitarian motif right into a bejewelled image of class and private freedom.
Over the a long time, the Cadenas watch has seen quite a few reinterpretations. The unique yellow gold model was quickly adopted by fashions set with calibrated sapphires or rubies in 1936, diamonds in 1938, and emeralds by 1943. Van Cleef & Arpels tailored the watch to swimsuit altering tastes, providing pavé-set platinum variations and even iterations with leather-based straps for on a regular basis put on.
Right now, the 2025 Cadenas watch continues this lineage of subtle innovation. It retains the long-lasting silhouette outlined by its sculptural padlock-inspired deal with and double snake chain bracelet in yellow gold, which wraps fluidly across the wrist with exceptional flexibility. The angled dial stays a signature, sustaining the watch’s distinctive mix of privateness and status.
The excessive jewelry creation flaunts a watch case completely snow-set with diamonds, a fancy gem-setting method that maximises sparkle by tightly packing stones of various sizes with seemingly random precision. A row of princess-cut sapphires enhances the higher facet of the case and is mirrored within the clasp, infusing the piece with gorgeous color and distinction. The white gold dial is festooned with brilliant-cut diamonds to finish the dazzling composition.
It’s simple that the Cadenas watch stays a triumph of design and storytelling even after 90 years. An heirloom-quality piece rooted within the traditions of excessive jewelry and infused with a contemporary sensibility, it’s a testomony to Van Cleef & Arpels’ mastery in reworking poetic concepts into wearable artwork, and a unbroken homage to ladies’s evolving relationship with time, autonomy, and class.
This story was first seen as a part of the WOW #78 Imaginative and prescient 2025 Problem
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