LONDON — “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late,” William Shakespeare wrote poetically about time in the play “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”
Now Van Cleef & Arpels is waxing lyrical about time in an exhibition at Cromwell Place in London called “Poetry of Time,” exploring the house’s history with timekeeping since 1906.
The showcase, which runs from May 26 to June 29, will feature watch pieces from every decade, as well as focusing on the brand’s Poetic Complications collection, where each watch is uniquely made with eccentric details such as snow-set yellow sapphires or guilloché yellow gold.
Van Cleef & Arpels
Visitors will witness the artistry that goes into the making of the watches with live demonstrations from the Watchmaking Workshops in Geneva, Switzerland.
As part of the free exhibition, a series of talks and workshops for children will be held.
In 2022, Van Cleef & Arpels hosted “The Art of Movement, Van Cleef & Arpels” at the Design Museum with some 100 creations designed by Van Cleef & Arpels on show, as well as numerous archive documents.
Richemont, which owns brands including Cartier, Chloé and Van Cleef & Arpels, saw its share price soar in January after third-quarter sales beat analysts’ estimates and the company confirmed its intention to sell all or part of Yoox Net-a-porter within the next 12 months.
Van Cleef & Arpels
Richemont is not immune to the luxury slowdown. Overall, growth in the third quarter was slower than in the first six months of the year, when Richemont saw revenue climb 6 percent at actual rates and 12 percent at constant ones.
Jewelry was the only category to post gains at actual rates. Revenue grew 6 percent to nearly 4 billion euros, while the specialist watchmakers and other divisions saw their sales decline by 1 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Van Cleef & Arpels
By region, Japan and Asia Pacific each grew by 8 percent at actual rates, helped by favorable comparisons with the corresponding period last year, currency tailwinds, and a 25 percent uptick in mainland China.
The Americas region grew by 3 percent, while Europe declined by 4 percent. Richemont said sales in the Americas were boosted by a “resilient economy,” and added that locals had chosen to make their holiday purchases at home rather than in Europe.
