(1898 - present)

One of France’s most prestigious jewellery houses. In 1898, Alfred Van Cleef married his cousin, Estelle Arpels. Soon thereafter, Van Cleef and Arpels was born. Estelle’s brothers (Charles, Julien, and Louis Arpels) joined Alfred and his wife as partners in the enterprise.

The venture started small. The family rented a modest office in Paris’s ninth arrondissement at 34 rue Drouot. Business thrived. Alfred had a keen eye for design. Charles was charming, an impeccable salesman. Julien’s business acumen was impressive, and he procured the finest diamonds and colored stones for VCA. In 1906, a new location was opened at Place Vendôme.

The Arpels’ young brother, Louis, joined the firm in 1913. Salons were opened outside of Paris in Nice (1910), Cannes (1921), New York (1939), Monte Carlo (1935), and Palm Beach (1940). Throughout the 20’s and 30’s, the family’s second generation assumed leadership positions. Alfred and Estelle’s daughter, Renée Puissant, served as artistic director from 1926 to 1942. Throughout the 1930’s, Julien’s sons entered the business: Claude, Jacques, and Pierre.

In the 70’s, the mantel again passed to a new generation: Phillipe Arpels and Dominique Hourtouille (Jacques’ children) and Caroline Daumen (Pierre’s daughter). It is assumed that “family management is assured.”

Throughout the decades, Van Cleef won over a clientele that included royalty from several continents (the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, King Farouk and the Court of Egypt, the Court of Iran), Hollywood film stars (Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Lauren) and industrial magnates as well as financiers (the Mellons, the Kennedy’s, the Vanderbilts, Florence Gould, the Onassises).

The firm was known for creating opulent pieces, impeccably designed and constructed. In 1954, Van Cleef expanded its client base with great success by opening boutiques that served as companions to their haute joaillerie salons. The boutiques offered collections of jewellery that were “young in spirit and reasonably priced” and updated yearly to reflect changing fashions. Other jewellery houses readily adopted this practice.

Of Van Cleef and Arpels’s numerous contributions to the history of jewellery design, three in particular deserve note. The first is the introduction, in 1930, of a new type of accessory: the minaudière. The minaudière is a type of vanity case. Constructed from gold or silver, it takes the form of a box. When opened, it reveals various lady-like essentials: a comb, a case for lipstick, a lighter, small compartments for cigarettes, change, and powder. The inspiration for the design came from a friend and client: Frances Gould, wife of American railroader Jay Gould. Gould apparently rushed to a meeting with Charles Arpels, throwing her necessities into a tin Lucky Strike cigarette case. Arpels took the idea and made it his own. He named it for his wife. The French verb minauder means, roughly, to simper or smile coyly. Madame Van Cleef’s simpering, especially at parties, was famous. The minaudière was wildly popular for decades. Women carried them in custom-made, fabric pouches.

VCA’s second major contribution is the introduction, in 1935, of a technique of gemstone setting called invisible setting (serti invisible). The setting is named for its appearance. When gems are invisibly set, it appears as if nothing is holding them in place: no prongs, bars, or bezels. One is simply presented with a collection of continuous, geometric gems. As a matter of fact, the gemstones are secured on their undersides by a metal grid into which each stone is fitted and held in places by small grooves. Setting gemstones in this way allowed for a new aesthetic in jewellery design. Many of Van Cleef’s signature pieces feature the technique.

The third contribution is more general, namely, that of being a purveyor of exceptional gems and jewellery. Over the years, Van Cleef has made numerous important acquisitions, including the “Princie Diamond,” a pink diamond of 38.64 carats, and Empress Josephine’s Tiara. The firm has also created impressive pieces in every design period throughout the twentieth century. In the 1940’s, for instance, it created widely-copied, charming ballerina brooches. Its skillful designs continue to this day.

Van Cleef and Arpels is now fully owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, a Swiss company which deals in high end luxury goods.