Van Cleef

 Brand profile

Van Cleef & Arpels is a French jewelry brand founded in 1906. The brand's product line, which includes jewelry, watches and perfumes, is currently part of the Richemont Group.

Brand history

In 1886, Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef were married, which led to the birth of the Van Cleef & Arpels brand. In 1906, Alfred Van Cleef and his wife's brother Charles Arpels, in collaboration, registered the van Cleef & Arpels trademark and opened the first Van Cleef & Arpels boutique at 22 Place Vendôme in Paris. Soon, two other brothers, Julian Arpels and Louis Arpels, joined the company.

Between 1903 and 1939, Van Cleef & Arpels grew rapidly, establishing a high profile in Europe and opening several branches in various locations. In 1939, the brand expanded into the continental United States, opening branches on Fifth Avenue, Palm Beach and Beverly in New York.

Among the royal nobility ornaments created by Van Cleef & Arpels include a bust from the 1937 wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Madame Simpson; Crowns of Egyptian queens, princesses and other members of the royal family at the time of the 1939 marriage between Egypt and Iran; Ornaments of Queen Josephine of Romania in 1940; Iran in 1967; and the crown worn at the wedding of Princess Carolín of Morocco in 1978.

Alfred Van Cleef died in 1938. Van Cleef & Arpels was managed by descendants of the Arpel family until it was acquired by richemont in 1999.

Stealth mosaic

In 1933, Van Cleef & Arpels invented the secret setting method, which allows the gemstones to be set tightly together without revealing any prongs, which is so complex that it takes more than 300 man-hours to make a brooch alone. Each gemstone must be very precisely embedded in a metal mesh less than two-tenths of a millimeter thick. Once completed, the gem appears to float above the metal without any external support. Due to the complexity of the production process, the intimate setting of jewelry is extremely rare, and the secret mosaic works produced by Van Cleef & Arpels every year are extremely rare.

Van Cleef & Arpels' masterpiece of hidden mosaics

Pivoine brooch, Van Cleef & Arpels Collection

Caresse d'Eole brooch, A Midsummer Night's Dream series

Ruban necklace, Couture haute couture collection

Héloïse brooch, Ballet Précieux Ballet Fine Jewelry Collection

Kallima ring, butterfly collection

Oiseaux de Paradis Precious Bird Brooch, Oiseaux de Paradis Precious Bird Series

Fleurs Mystérieuses necklace, Bals de Légende Legendary Ball Ball Fine Jewelry Collection

Van Cleef & Arpels timepieces

Pierre Arpels joined Van Cleef & Arpels at the end of World War II. In 1949, he designed a watch of exceptional quality for himself, which he named after himself. Originally, it was only the exclusive watch of Pierre Arpels and his closest friends, and it was not released to the public until 1967. Since then, this watch has become a classic in van Cleef & Arpels' watch collection.

In 2010, Van Cleef & Arpels launched the Poetic Complications series, which includes four complication movements.

Quantième de Saison Four Seasons Movement: This complex movement shows the elements on the back of the dial step by step and continuously; Its thick enamel or atherophilic glass disc rotates only one degree a day to show the change of seasons in time.

24-hour movement: An automatic movement that rotates in a cycle of 24 hours.

Retrograde movement: When the pointer indicates that the scale is full, the pointer instantly returns to the beginning of the scale, repeating the new process.

Tourbillon movement: Characterized by a complex mechanical structure, the precision of the watch is improved by correcting the error caused by gravity to the watch parts.

Timeline

1886 Wedding of Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef

1906 Van Cleef & Arpels was founded and a boutique was opened at 22 Place Vendôme

1927 Art Déco Panier Fleuri Châtelaine girdle watch

1930 Minaudière Treasure Box

1933 Patent for hidden mosaic technology

1935 Cadenas registered a patent for the watch

In 1936 the Duke of Windsor ordered several special works for the Duchess

1940 First ballerina with fairy brooch

1949 Couscous Marguerite watch; Pierre Arpels timepieces

1956 Gold "Carrelage" timepiece

1968 The first Alhambra necklace

1969 Picasso Grandfather Clock

1976 Launch of the first perfume

1979 The first Pierre Arpels skeleton watch

1998 Galilée grandfather clock

2006 The first Poetic Complication Centenaire watch

2008 Launch of the Charms watch collection

In 2009, the first case of the Les Jardins watch series was introduced

In 2010, the Pont des Amoureux watch won the Grand Prix in Horlogerie

Represents a series

Peau d'Âne series

Pierres de Caractères series

Palais de la chance series

Les Voyages Extraordinaires™ series

California rêverie series

Bals de Légende series

Les Jardins series

L'Atlantide series

Une Journée à Paris series

Midsummer Night's Dream series

Alhambra series

Perlée series

Floral series

Flying Beauties series

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