Editor’s Note
This article highlights a special exhibition in Tokyo commemorating the centennial of the 1925 Art Deco Exposition. The showcase presents Van Cleef & Arpels’ high jewelry as a narrative of the iconic design movement.
The special exhibition “Eternal Moment: Van Cleef & Arpels — High Jewelry Narrates Art Deco” opened on September 27 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The exhibition runs until January 18, 2026.
This exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” (commonly known as the Art Deco Exposition) held in Paris in 1925, which significantly influenced the design and decoration of the former Asaka Palace (now the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum). The exhibition brings together approximately 250 meticulously selected pieces of jewelry, watches, and objets d’art from the “Patrimony Collection” of the renowned French high jewelry maison, Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as from private collections, along with about 60 archival materials from the maison’s archives. The exhibition is curated by Ruriko Hōnami of the museum, with scenography by Tetsuo Nishizawa.
Van Cleef & Arpels was founded following the marriage of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels in 1895. Since opening its first boutique at 22 Place Vendôme in Paris in 1906, it has earned high acclaim for its poetic designs and innovative craftsmanship.
At the jewelry section of the aforementioned Art Deco Exposition, the maison exhibited several pieces and won the Grand Prix. One of these works, the “Intertwined Flowers, Red and White Rose Bracelet” (1924), is featured in this exhibition.
