Van Cleef & Arpels have launched a charming watch for the pretty ladies out there. The concept is very stylish as the the timpiece has a design that celebrates simple exploration of the Parisian city, and so the name, Journée à Paris which mean ‘day in Paris’.

The designer watch definitely tells time but it also features a special disc with a female character who is busy and happy enjoying the beautiful locales in French capital. The partially viewable disc makes a full revolution each 24 hours. Van Cleef & Arpels explain that the lady in the watch begins her day in the Tuileries with a diamond, mandarin garnet and bouquets of different kinds. In a similar fashion, the day moves through Ile de la Cité, the Avenue Montaigne and the Paris Garnier Opera, each marked by a different precious stone every time.

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Known for producing unique writing instruments, Namiki has lately unveiled the Namiki Limited Edition Maki-e Emperor Butterfly and Chrysanthemum. As against the mystery masterpiece worth $730,000; a joint effort by Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, this Japanese pen offers quality under a thin price tag.

Festooned with Japan’s national symbols viz. the Great Purple Emperor butterfly and Chrysanthemum, the great mind of Michifumi Kawaguchi behind this creation has made an efficient use of ages-old way of Maki-e lacquering to design this pen. The displayed pen is the result of the multi-layered designs carved using urushi (sap from lacquer trees of Japan) on the barrel and cap of the pen.

I am sure it would be a different experience altogether to write using 18-karat gold nib with rhodium accent and a piston ink delivery system. With the limited production of counted 99 pens globally, each pen comes packed in a classy gift box, whose cover is ornamented with a “Kaga Yuzen”, a conventional silk dyeing method of Japan.

Via Namiki

This has to be categorized as jewelry rather than a time piece. It has a logical reasoning behind it. The purpose of the watch to reflect time doesn’t demand high cost. What made it elite is the 493 top Wesselton “baguette” diamonds that surround the case dial and buckle. Created by Hublot, the One Million Dollar Big Bang watch follows the “serti mysterieux” technique (used in the jewelry creation by Van Cleef & Arpels (Paris) which allows only the visibility of diamonds that dominate the structure holding it, making it invisible).

It uneasy price tag is because of its not-so-easy production. Having invested more than 2,000 hours on its designing through R&D, machine programming, the cutting of the diamonds, setting, casing and fine-tuning; this piece-of-art luxury deserves this commanding price.

Well, does the display of time divulged at Baselworld is marvelous? The question remains open-ended because I haven’t tried it.

Luxury Launches