Van Cleef & Arpels and the hidden wonders of the ancient world

For all that’s been said and written of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, little concrete evidence shows that the Gardens — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — actually exists. But it’s easy to see why they’ve captured the imagination of poets and historians throughout time: Lush vegetation cascading down tiered terraces thought to be over 20 metres tall. Exotic plants snaking between statues and stone columns. All this in the arid land of ancient Babylon, due south of the capital of modern-day Iraq.

Historians note that there have been no first-hand accounts of the ancient wonder, and that the exact location of the Gardens — if they ever existed — remains a hotly-disputed topic among academics. But the mythos of the Gardens persists in part because of the quixotic story behind them. Popular culture attributes the creation of the ancient wonder to Nebuchadnezzar II, who purportedly built it as a gift for his homesick wife, Amytis; she was born in a mountainous region filled with lush vegetation, and missed her homeland — Nebuchadnezzar wanted to build a monument to her proportionate to his affections.

It is this story that Van Cleef & Arpels taps on for this complex, one-of-a-kind creation. The aptly-
named Amytis & Nabuchodonosor secret watch (which uses another spelling of the famed King’s name) recreates those mythical colonnades and luxuriant gardens in a distinctively Art Deco fashion. Glistening columns of white gold and diamonds link together individual islands of buff-topped emeralds that surround cones of striking turquoise. A sugarloaf sapphire of 6.75cts — ensconced by baguette-cut diamonds — sits at the heart of the watch. The central motif, when lifted, reveals a diamond-paved dial — like a desert mirage.