6 extraordinary clocks by Chanel, Patek Philippe and more at Watches and Wonders 2025
A new generation of clocks at the world’s largest watch event showed that horology’s grandest expressions are no longer confined to the wrist.
This year's Watches and Wonders Geneva was filled with a remarkable new wave of desk clocks, automata, and mechanical sculptures. (Photo: Courtesy of respective brands)
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Part conversation piece, part kinetic art, clocks remind us that horology’s most evocative expressions sometimes need a grander stage than the wrist. At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, that stage was filled with a remarkable new wave of desk clocks, automata, and mechanical sculptures. From Chanel’s gem-encrusted lion to Panerai’s astronomical homage to Galileo, from Trilobe’s sensorial sculpture-meets-timepiece to Patek Philippe’s heirloom-worthy marvel, and Van Cleef & Arpels’ orbiting planets and fluttering Cupid, these six creations offered a visual feast and poetic storytelling in motion.
CHANEL
Born under the sign of Leo, Gabrielle Chanel embraced the lion as her personal emblem, which continues to inspire the maison’s creations today. At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, Chanel unveiled an extraordinary one-of-a-kind expression of this connection as part of the sumptuous Lion of Mademoiselle collection: The Diamonds Astroclock.
Executed in white gold and snow-set with 5,037 brilliant-cut diamonds, the majestic beast rests its paw protectively on a polished obsidian sphere. Encased within a glass globe, the sophisticated self-winding mechanical movement with an eight-day power reserve brings poetry to the passing hours. A comet-shaped hand, set with 11 diamonds, elegantly traverses the rotating planetary dial to indicate the hours. Minutes are gracefully marked by a diamond-set hand styled as the Leo constellation. A discreetly rotating white gold sphere, festooned with 66 glittering diamonds, subtly signals the mechanism in motion.
The result of eight months’ painstaking craftsmanship, the mesmerising timekeeper fuses high watchmaking with jewellery savoir-faire. Each diamond was individually selected and expertly placed by hand to create a hypnotic texture and brilliance across the lion’s fur and features.
PANERAI
Panerai’s Jupiterium is a mesmerising tribute to Galileo Galilei’s revolutionary astronomical discoveries. Showcased as part of Panerai’s ambitious creations, this planetarium clock captures Galileo’s 1610 discovery of Jupiter’s four largest moons, known today as Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – key celestial bodies that challenged the long-standing geocentric model of the universe.
Weighing around 110kg and measuring 75cm wide and 86cm high, the Jupiterium boasts a sophisticated manual-winding mechanism composed of 1,650 titanium components. Powered by eight spring barrels delivering a generous 40-day power reserve, the intricate system features a unique perpetual calendar accurate until the year 2099 without adjustment, capable of tracking day, date, month, and year with flawless precision.
A distinctive feature of the creation is its accurate depiction of retrograde motion – a visual phenomenon where Jupiter seems to briefly reverse its direction when observed from Earth. Panerai achieves this illusion through the use of a patented mechanism, which employs carefully calibrated gears and counterweights that showcase the Italian manufacture’s technical prowess.
The display itself is awe-inspiring, with Earth positioned prominently at its heart, encircled by a celestial sphere displaying constellations illuminated with Super-LumiNova. This sphere completes a full rotation every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, precisely simulating a sidereal day. At its base, the dial clearly presents hours, minutes, and seconds, alongside an AM/PM indicator and linear power reserve marked “40 giorni” (40 days). Encased in glass atop a richly lacquered mahogany base, the architectural masterpiece is an invitation to marvel at humanity’s unwavering fascination with the cosmos.
PATEK PHILIPPE
The revered Swiss watchmaker returns to the world of grand horology with the awe-inspiring Ref. 27000M-001 complicated desk clock from the 2025 Rare Handcrafts collection – a tribute to the maison’s historical masterpieces and its boundless technical ingenuity. Inspired by two iconic desk clocks it created for American magnates and horology connoisseurs James Ward Packard and Henry Graves Jr in 1923 and 1927 respectively, the timekeeper is proof that Patek Philippe’s horological mastery knows no bounds, whether worn on the wrist or placed on a collector’s desk.
Packard, an automobile magnate who created the first luxury car in the US, and Graves, a New York banker, who was obsessed with owning the most complicated timepieces, were among Patek Philippe’s most prominent patrons in the early 20th-century.
A result of seven years’ development, the clock’s newly developed calibre 86-135 PEND S IRM Q SE comprises 912 components, of which almost half are for the perpetual calendar. The clock’s development led to the filing of nine patent applications for innovations and optimisations, including strengthening long-term reliability, reducing the perpetual calendar’s energy consumption, and securing the functions against any inadvertent mishandling. The manually wound movement also offers a 31-day power reserve and an incredible precision of ±1 second per day, all thanks to a patented constant-force mechanism that maintains the amplitude of the balance wheel throughout its power cycle.
Patek Philippe drew inspiration from the ornate detailing of the 1923 Packard model, reinterpreting the elements with refined elegance. Panels of green Grand Feu flinque enamel, applied over intricate swirling guilloche, adorn a sterling silver cabinet. A technique mastered by only a few artisans, enamelling on silver requires exceptional skill as the metal’s relatively low melting point of 890 degrees Celsius comes dangerously close to enamel firing temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius to 900 degrees Celsius.
The clock’s upper panel and bezel are framed by a delicately engraved cord motif, while decorative elements in vermeil (silver gilt) pay tribute to the original timepiece. These include three rosettes positioned at the corners and at 12 o’clock, acanthus scrollwork surrounding the Calatrava cross, and four majestic winged lions forming the clock’s feet. Measuring 16.4cm in length, 12.5cm in width, and 7.6cm high, the eye-catching creation commands attention wherever it’s displayed.
Discreetly tucked beneath the hinged American walnut cover is a mechanical push-button control panel, which offers intuitive time-setting. This ingenious feature brings modern user-friendliness to a classic form, delivering an ease of operation worthy of a 21st-century timepiece.
TRILOBE
With Le Temps Retrouve, French independent watchmaker Trilobe defies our most fundamental assumptions about how time is perceived. Neither a watch, clock, nor an automaton, this creation first presents itself as a sculpted bust – enigmatic and devoid of numerals or hands. But look closer, and it reveals itself as a mind-blowing fusion of horology, art, and sensory experience.
Inspired by Marcel Proust's literary masterpiece In Search of Lost Time, this piece reimagines time not as a rigid measurement, but as an emotional, almost meditative experience. Conceived after four years of development and more than 3,000 hours of meticulous assembly, every Le Temps Retrouve is entirely bespoke.
A visual artist at the Stephane Gerard Atelier in Paris sculpts each bust in the likeness of a customer or their loved one. The innovative display requires observers to slow down, inviting a moment of reflection. Hours unfold with a poetic grace as rosettes, set on both temples, gently open one petal every hour before closing after a cycle of 12 hours. Minutes are subtly indicated by the gentle rotation of the bust’s eyes, its expression shifting just a touch with each passing moment. Seconds, in a philosophical departure, are felt rather than seen – suggested through the sculpture’s breath-like rhythm in the form of a subtle heartbeat ticking deep within.
Beyond the visual, the piece engages other senses. Crafted from marble ceramic and lined internally with palladium, the sculpture absorbs warmth from touch, as if breathing life. An integrated perfume mechanism diffuses a unique fragrance – developed with each client through a personal consultation with a Parisian perfumer – adding another layer in this richly immersive experience.
The technical complexity is extraordinary. Requiring over 2,000 hours to assemble, the mechanism comprises a 2,050-component movement developed by Manufacture Masur in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. Its spatialised architecture houses an eight-day power reserve, recoil anchor escapement, and a worm gear system that animates the sculpture’s gaze. With 95 per cent of the components custom-made, every movement is a marvel of micro-engineering.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Since 1906, the French jeweller has captured imaginations with precious objects that beautifully blend artistry and surprise. From vintage powder compacts to intricate automata, each creation reflects the house’s rich heritage and mastery of metiers d’art, where time, beauty, and movement come together in poetic harmony. This tradition continues with two new extraordinary timekeepers that showcase the maison’s singular vision of time and storytelling.
Naissance de l’Amour automaton
Van Cleef & Arpels evokes wonder with the enchanting Naissance de l’Amour. Standing about 30cm tall, this delightful kinetic sculpture captures the tender grace of Cupid, masterfully crafted from white, rose, and yellow gold, and accented with diamonds.
Rising from a feather-lined basket crafted in rose, white, and yellow gold, the figure of Cupid gently emerges, his plique-a-jour enamel wings fluttering as he turns gracefully to the sound of a carillon melody. After his delicate ascent, he returns to his hidden sanctuary, making the entire motion feel like a fleeting moment of magic. The automaton’s movement was developed in collaboration with master automaton-maker Francois Junod in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland.
Every detail is a study in craftsmanship. Cupid perches atop a rose gold Greek column, surrounded by a cloud composition set with diamonds and pink sapphires in varying hues. The entire base is carved from richly textured iron eye stone, while a bowl of petrified palmwood –a material newly introduced by the maison – cradles the feathered nest. A rotating ring just above the base indicates the time via two lacquered feathers tipped with diamonds and elegantly secured by a diamond-set bow.
Planetarium automaton
Van Cleef & Arpels reaches for the stars quite literally with this new celestial marvel. A majestic addition to the maison’s Poetic Astronomy universe, this phenomenal object reinterprets 18th-century mechanical planetariums on a scale that’s as monumental as it is mesmerising. Measuring 50cm high and 66.5cm wide, the automaton displays the planets visible from Earth – Mercury, Venus, Earth (with its Moon), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – orbiting a radiant Sun at their true astronomical speeds.
Driven by a complex in-house mechanical movement, each planet completes its orbit in real time, from Mercury’s 88 days to Saturn’s 29.5 years. The Moon circles the Earth every 27.3 days, adding a poetic cadence to the scene. Activated on demand, a rose gold shooting star adorned with Mystery Set rubies and diamonds sweeps across a 24-hour dial to display the time and is accompanied by a chime from 15 visible bells beneath a custom-blown crystal dome.
Materials and symbolism elevate the spectacle. The Sun glows with spessartite garnets, yellow sapphires, and diamonds on a trembleur setting. Surrounding it are planets are crafted from ornamental stones: Mercury in chalcedony, white gold and blue sapphires; Venus in rose quartz and pink sapphires with shell motifs; Earth in green jasper and blue sapphires, accompanied by its pearl Moon; Mars in moonstone, rose gold, and pink sapphires; Jupiter with a jasper core rimmed in yellow gold and diamonds; and Saturn, adorned with jet and white gold rings accented by sapphires.
Placed in a concentric pattern within the dial are 15 lapis lazuli discs, inlaid with rose and white gold stars and closed-set diamonds to evoke the majesty of the cosmos. Set atop a wood base of lemonwood, holly, and ziricote, the Planetarium also includes a perpetual calendar, as well as day/night and 15-day power reserve indicators.
