Editor’s Note
This article explores the origins of Van Cleef & Arpels, tracing its foundation to the 1906 partnership between Alfred Van Cleef and Charles Arpels, and the marriage that united two families of jewelers and gem dealers.
The history of Van Cleef & Arpels dates back to the 1895 wedding of Alfred Van Cleef, son of a lapidary, and Estelle Arpels, daughter of a precious stone dealer. In 1906, Alfred Van Cleef, along with Estelle’s brother Charles Arpels, a gemologist, founded Van Cleef & Arpels, combining the two family names, and began their jewelry business. The two opened their first boutique at 22 Place Vendôme in Paris and later grew the brand into a family business by bringing in Julien Arpels and Louis Arpels. Van Cleef & Arpels’ craftsmanship, which insists on using only the finest gemstones down to the smallest stone, soon became a topic of conversation in French high society.
In particular, the brand’s unique jewelry designs and delicate craftsmanship, inspired by nature such as flowers, leaves, and butterflies, breathed vitality into its expansion. Representative collections include brooches and rings that feel as vivid as if a real ribbon were tied, and the Zip necklace, first ordered by the Duchess of Windsor in the late 1930s and reinterpreted and released to this day. Jewelry with motifs of ballerinas and fairies, embodying elegance, femininity, and mysterious beauty, has also become one of the signature motifs representing Van Cleef & Arpels.
The Alhambra line, launched in 1968 and loved to this day, is Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature item, designed with motifs of the lucky four-leaf clover, butterflies, stars, and hearts. It takes its name from the Byzantine-style Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. The style stands out for its exquisite finish, using yellow gold or white gold bead setting (small spherical beads decorating the edges of the gold frame surrounding the Alhambra motif) for the frames holding various colored natural stones.
This was the answer received when asking a jewelry manager at a department store luxury corner about the most famous jewelry collection. Ironically, the Alhambra collection, which is said to be owned by at least one famous person worldwide, is counted among the most popular collections. It’s only natural that public interest focuses on the necklaces and bracelets of celebrities who are objects of envy. The lucky four-leaf clover, named Alhambra for its resemblance to the decorations of the Spanish Alhambra Palace, has thus maintained its legacy for over 60 years through the 1960s and 1970s. So, who is the one who carved and polished by hand to complete the Alhambra collection? The protagonist is ‘Van Cleef & Arpels,’ celebrating its 119th anniversary this year.
The design concept that allows a single piece of jewelry to be worn in various transformations is one of the biggest characteristics of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry. There is the ‘Between the Fingers Ring’ designed to be worn on one or two fingers, while a necklace can transform into a brooch, bracelet, or belt.
The driving force behind all this is summarized as craftsmanship and setting techniques. As mentioned earlier, Van Cleef & Arpels insists on only the finest gemstones. For diamonds, the ‘Color’ is more valuable the whiter and more transparent it is. Depending on the amount of nitrogen contained, it takes on colors like yellow and brown and is graded from D, E, F to Z. The fewer the inclusions, the higher the ‘Clarity’ grade. It is divided into 11 grades: FL (Flawless), IF (Internally Flawless), VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, I3.
Diamonds used in Van Cleef & Arpels’ bridal collection use only the highest-grade stones with D, E color and clarity grades from IF to VVS2. The craftsmanship of setting even the smallest stones by hand, one by one, advanced in 1933 with the proprietary setting technique ‘Mystery Setting.’ This technique maximizes brilliance and beauty by setting the stones so that the prongs supporting them are completely invisible.
Van Cleef & Arpels was recognized for its technical prowess at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) awards ceremony held in Geneva, Switzerland last November, winning in the Ladies’ Watch, Ladies’ Complication Watch, and Artistic Crafts Watch categories.
The ‘Lady Day and Night,’ which won the Ladies’ Watch category, captures the harmonious trajectory of the sun and moon by newly interpreting ballet choreography.
The ‘Lady Arpels Brise d’Été,’ winner in the Ladies’ Complication Watch category, reproduces a brilliantly blooming spring, a lush garden, and the elegant fluttering of butterflies. The ‘Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté,’ which won the Artistic Crafts Watch category where artistic technique is a judging criterion, features a fairy rotating and revealing its form inside a 41mm case.
In May 2022, Van Cleef & Arpels opened its Seoul Maison flagship boutique ‘Maison Van Cleef & Arpels’ in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. The Seoul Maison is the fifth flagship boutique, following those at Place Vendôme in Paris, Fifth Avenue in New York, Landmark Prince’s in Hong Kong, and Ginza in Tokyo. It embodies the brand’s philosophy of respecting Korean nature and tradition through its façade inspired by celadon, a garden inside the Seoul Maison where one can feel Korea’s four seasons, and wall finishes using hanji, a sophisticated textured handmade paper. It consists of a total of five floors, where one can encounter high jewelry, watchmaking collections, and heritage pieces.
In 1939, Van Cleef & Arpels expanded overseas by opening its first overseas Maison (store) at the Rockefeller Center in New York, USA, and participating in the New York World’s Fair the same year.
Later, in 1999, Van Cleef & Arpels joined the Swiss Richemont Group, which owns Cartier, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Montblanc, Piaget, and others. In 2002, it expanded its network to various Asian cities including Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and in 2005, it entered the Chinese market, opening its first boutique at the China World Mall in Beijing. Van Cleef & Arpels’ unrivaled presence is also represented by its unyielding growth trend. Looking at the Richemont Group’s third-quarter performance, which grew 10% year-on-year in January this year, the jewelry sector surprised the related industry by increasing 14% (€4.5 billion) year-on-year, and fashion & accessories by 11% (€782 million). Analysts’ forecasts before the earnings announcement predicted growth of only 1%. Industry experts analyze that Van Cleef & Arpels drove the solid performance. The market’s evaluation of a brand owned by at least one famous person was even more sensitive.