#The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection (1906-1953)

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Van Cleef & Arpels Creates a Coffee-Table Book Worth Coveting

The iconic brand worn by stars including Margot Robbie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Caitriona Balfe has released an artful book that highlights some of the house's most fruitful design years.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/van-cleef-arpels-jewelry-design-coffee-table-book-1235953599/

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Van Cleef & Arpels Creates a Coffee-Table Book Worth Coveting

The iconic brand worn by stars including Margot Robbie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Caitríona Balfe has released an artful book that highlights some of the house's most fruitful design years.

A look at the just-released book, "The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection (1906-1953)," which highlights some of the legendary jewelry house's most iconic designs. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

For jewelry aficionados, phrases like “Zip necklace” and “mystery-set stones” should instantly evoke thoughts of one heritage-steeped house: Van Cleef & Arpels. These are just two of the iconic design elements from the legendary brand that opened its first boutique on Paris’s Place Vendôme in 1906. Now a new book takes a comprehensive look at its high-wattage designs, created during the years when everyone from Hollywood icons Carole Lombard and Marlene Dietrich to Wallis Simpson, a.k.a. the Duchess of Windsor, ranked high among the house’s most ardent fans and devoted collectors.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection (1906-1953) is an impressive coffee-table book that explores the dazzling designs that emerged from the jeweler in the first half of the 20th century. Almost 700 jewelry and watch images are included alongside 200 archival documents, from 1920s timepieces and bracelets infused with Art Deco styling to early advertisements and mid-century jewels that continue to enjoy high-wattage attention to this day. For proof of the latter, look no further than Margot Robbie wearing a version of the house’s iconic Zip necklace to the 2015 Academy Awards, while at the 2022 Oscars, Caitríona Balfe wore a 1957 diamond necklace that highlights Van Cleef & Arpels’ bow and ribbon motifs. And at December’s Fashion Awards in London, Gwyneth Paltrow paired her crimson Valentino gown and feathered coat with ruby and diamond Van Cleef & Arpels jewels from the 1960s.

Margot Robbie, wearing a Zip necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels, at the 87th Annual Academy Awards in 2015. FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES

A Van Cleef & Arpels Zip necklace from 1952, crafted of emeralds and diamonds set in 18-karat yellow gold and platinum. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

The 678-page book offers a deep dive into these and other pieces that continue to be sought after, sometimes a full century after their debut. The sapphire and diamond Zip necklace worn by Robbie, for example, takes its cue from a design that got its start in the 1930s, when the ultra-stylish Simpson suggested to then-creative director Renée Puissant the creation of a necklace that both looked and could operate as a zipper might. The technical mastery required for a jewel that could fully function like a zipper took a full 12 years, however, with the first Zip necklace debuting in 1951. (Viewers of the 1930s-set The King’s Speech, which includes actress Eve Best as Simpson, will see that character wearing an all-diamond Van Cleef & Arpels Zip necklace elegantly draped down her back, creating one of the 2010 film’s most stylish — if anachronistic — moments.)

Van Cleef & Arpels 1936 Fleur brooch, crafted of mystery-set rubies and diamonds set in 18-karat white and yellow gold. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

In addition to its celebrated Ballerina clips, jeweled timepieces and other high-wattage designs, the book also pays ample attention to the house’s Mystery Set collection, named for the intricate technique that eliminates the sight of any prongs on the design’s surface. Patented by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1933, mystery-set designs quickly gained popularity among its well-heeled clientele, even as the house’s artisans continued to refine and evolve the technique so it could be employed in pieces that felt more three-dimensional. A 1936 ruby and diamond Fleur brooch, released soon after a second patent was acquired that same year, ultimately was deemed worthy of the book’s cover.

The cover of The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection: 1906-1953. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

“This brooch was created [in 1936 and] is thus one of the first examples of this groundbreaking development,” explains Nicolas Bos, president and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. “As an example of the way in which technical evolutions exert an influence on style, this piece — one of the oldest Mystery Set creations in our possession — perfectly expresses the very essence of this book. It was acquired by the Patrimony department just as we were completing the first volume, so we naturally thought of it for the cover.”

Bos also notes that the book’s compilation has been in the works for five decades, originating in the 1970s and refined over the years as it continued to be deeply researched by the Van Cleef & Arpels Patrimony department, which oversees the house’s heritage and archives. “This patrimonial Collection – today made up of over 2,700 pieces – is representative of Van Cleef & Arpels’ creations in terms of inspirations, materials, and techniques,” Bos says. “It is for that reason that this work takes the form of a catalogue raisonné: the most comprehensive possible compendium of an artist’s work.”

Caitríona Balfe, wearing Van Cleef & Arpels jewels, including a 1957 necklace crafted of diamonds set in 18-karat white gold and platinum, at the 94th Annual Academy Awards in 2022. MOMODU MANSARAY/GETTY IMAGES

Divided into a trio of hefty chapters, the book kicks off with “The Creative Boom (1906 – 1925),” which highlights a variety of Art Deco-influenced designs, several of which were showcased in a 1925 Paris exhibition of decorative and industrial arts. Chapters two and three explore “A Unique Identity (1926 – 1937),” which explores the development of the singular Van Cleef & Arpels aesthetic, and “From Paris to New York (1938 – 1953),” which highlights the house’s expansion into the U.S., including its inclusion in the New York World’s Fair of 1939. A second volume, which covers the years 1954 through 2000, is expected to be released in 2026, Bos adds.

Platinum-set emerald and diamond Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet from 1925. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Throughout, the book is lavish in its inclusion of archive images and newly photographed jewels, the latter part of a parallel project to create a comprehensive look at Van Cleef & Arpels’ history through its designs. “We wanted the illustrative record to be exhaustive: optimal picture quality, harmonious visual images, pieces photographed from different angles,” Bos says. “Visually, we have treated this book like the catalogue of an exhibition, in which the jewelry creations and archive material complement one another.”

A Van Cleef & Arpels advertisement that appeared in a 1939 issue of French Vogue. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Ultimately Bos says he believes both this book and its subsequent sister volume will further a key Van Cleef & Arpels goal. “Through these initiatives, we hope to show that jewelry is not an isolated art,” he notes. “It is in constant interaction with other disciplines, which inspire it and which it influences in return. As such, it forms part of the great history of the arts.”

The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection (1906-1953) is available now.

Gwyneth Paltrow, wearing vintage Van Cleef & Arpels earrings from the 1960s, attended The Fashion Awards 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall on Dec. 4, 2023 in London. DOMINIC LIPINSKI/GETTY IMAGES

The Hollywood Reporter

Remember… the book’s compilation has been in the works for five decades, originating in the 1970s and refined over the years as it continued to be deeply researched by the Van Cleef & Arpels Patrimony department, which oversees the house’s heritage and archives. — Nicolas Bos, President & CEO, Van Cleef & Arpels