Feminine, glamorous, and refined for more than a century, the Van Cleef & Arpels style has been distinct from all others. Van Cleef & Arpels began as a love story when the daughter of a precious stone dealer, Estelle Arpels, married the son of a stonecutter, Alfred Van Cleef, in 1895. The young lovers had much in common: youthful enthusiasm, a pioneering spirit, an ethic of family solidarity, and a passion for precious stones. Van Cleef & arpels has always been inspired by the unique creative energy of love, and each design told a story with universal meaning to express a poetic view of life.
The house of Van Cleef & Arpels has dressed the elite in fine jewellery since its inception in 1906. Its expertise extends from the procurement of rare stones to gem setting, enamelling, watchmaking and beyond. This, along with a star-studded client list and a proclivity for reinvention, has carved out a sustainable place for the brand in the luxury marketplace. Its client list includes one of the most prominent fashion icons of the 20th century: Oscar winning actress-turned royal, Grace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco), who appointed the maison as the “Official Supplier to the Principality of Monaco” soon after her marriage into the royal family.
Kelly also collected the iconic Alhambra pieces, featuring a rounded four-leaf clover shape, launched in 1968. Still in production, the Alhambra collection utilizes a wide variety of materials, and its emblem signifies luck, love, fortune, and good health. This collection has since become an iconic staple of Van Cleef & Arpels.
For Van cleef & Arpels, exceptional stones that are central to the creative process and transmit a unique emotion. Based on the experience of over a century, the Maison selects its materials using to the most stringent criteria. Diamonds graded D, E or F for colour and IF, VVS1 or VVS2 for clarity glitter with the same sparkle from jewellery collections to unique pieces. These high standards also find expression in the choice of hard and coloured stones: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, tourmalines, lapis lazuli, carnelian and turquoise. Intensity and consistency of colour, elegance of cut, fine proportions and the clarity and brilliance of the material are all carefully evaluated by Van Cleef & Arpels’ expert gemmologists. With the eye and taste unique to the Maison, they carefully ascertain the life and character of each stone – the spiritual quality that marks it out from its peers.
Van Cleef & Arpels remains faithful to a highly distinctive style characterized by creativity, poetry, and artistic sensibility. From nature to couture, from dance to the imagination, its key sources of inspiration find expression in a universe where grace and harmony reign. The craftsmen’s skill imbues precious materials with lightness and movement, magnifying both the front and back of a jewel and fully complementing the beauty of the stones. This jewel expertise is accompanied by a constant quest for flexibility and comfort and a taste for metamorphosis. Its diversity and elegance have won the hearts of many, and its designs withstood the test of time.