Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels

Pick the stars from the sky and wear the universe at your wrist. Oh isn’t that romantic? Reading time with the stars under the Paris constellation can now be done through the Midnight in Paris timepiece. It represents the map of stars under the Parisian sky. The mechanical movement is unique, its extreme complexity linking the concept of time to that of the Cosmos as a dazzling homage to that other mysterious and fascinating world.

The Midnight in Paris timepiece recreates the map of the celestial dome. This is done by a rotating disk made of aventurine glass. The mechanism of this jewel-like timepiece is visible thanks to a sapphire glass case back that is protected by a pink gold moveable flap. On the back of the timepiece, the disk surrounding the calendar is set with real meteorite stone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Case
Dimensions: Ø 42 mm. Rose gold. Scratch-proof sapphire crystal. Water resistant 3 ATM (20m)

Dial
Rotating blue aventurine glass disc. Polished and brushed hands. Signature Van Cleef & Arpels.

Strap and buckle
Alligator. Rose gold folding clasp with integrated security system mechanism

Movement
Swiss mechanical movement exclusively developed for Van Cleef & Arpels on a Jaeger-LeCoultre Basis. 28,800 alternations / hour. Autonomy 40 hours. 24 jewels

Price
48,000 euros

Metamorphoses of an American

Grant Theft Auto star and fashion designer/photographer Karl Lagerfeld is launching his new book Metamorphoses of an American at a New York gallery opening tonight. It features five years worth of photos of model. Lagerfeld’s attachment to Brad Kroenig is apparently as strong as his attachment to Diet Coke— he’s always on hand.

Maureen Orth yesterday posted a piece on the Lagerfeld/Kroenig relationship for Vanity Fair:

“‘Have you met Brad?’ Lagerfeld asked. Brad Kroenig, a top male mode who, at 6 foot 1, looks vaguely like Matthew McConaughey, was sparkling in the same silver sequined jacket he’d worn to the Met Costume gala the night before. He and Lagerfeld attended New York’s ‘party of the year’ together, and they had just arrived in Paris the afternoon I saw them, none the worse for wear. Kroenig, an easy-going 29-year-old with the uncanny ability to transform himself to look like everyone from James Dean to Errol Flynn, is the American whose ‘metamorphoses’ Lagerfeld has been documenting for the past five years. ‘I thought it would be interesting to follow the physical evolution of someone,’ the designer told me in his rapid-fire German accent. ‘Without him knowing it, he has an unbelievable range. It’s a kind of gift. He knows nothing about these things. It’s fun for somebody to skate on these images and interpretations without being an actor—the characters, the situations, the attitudes, while at the same time to stay a completely modern all-American.'”

A Children’s Book About Mommy’s Plastic Surgery

A new picture book about plastic surgery aims to explain why mom is getting a flatter tummy and a ‘prettier’ nose.”My Beautiful Mommy” (Big Tent Books) is available this Mother’s Day. It features a perky mother explaining to her child why she’s having cosmetic surgery (a nose job and tummy tuck). Naturally, it has a happy ending: mommy winds up “even more” beautiful than before, and her daughter is thrilled.

Some, upon reading the manuscript with their son, find it useful. Newsweek reports “Since February, when she had the surgery, she and [her son] have read the book a half dozen times, and she says it helped him feel excited rather than scared. “I didn’t want him to think [the surgery] was because I was hurting. It was to make me feel good,” she says.”

“That message seems to have gotten through. Instead of being uncomfortable about the surgery, Acosta says her son actually spoke up about it at a big party. “Did you see her new belly button? It’s so pretty!” he said of his mom. “I think he was proud,” she says.”