68 pages, almost 700 images of jewellery and precious objects, and 200 archival documents compile the first volume of The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection, covering the years 1906 to 1953. A second volume that chronicles the period from 1954 to 2000 will follow. The absolute minimum when retracing the extraordinary creativity of this remarkable jewellery house, born in 1895 from the union of Esther (known as Estelle) Arpels, the daughter of a dealer in precious stones, and Alfred Van Cleef, the son of a diamond broker.

This is certainly an imposing volume – the cover is a jewel in itself - but like any publication of its kind, it should be seen as an invitation to meander through its pages; to wander from one era to another and discover hundreds of jewels, representative of Van Cleef & Arpels’ creativity, from these nearly five decades.

Alexandrine Maviel Sonet, Van Cleef & Arpels Patrimony and Exhibitions Director

Divided into three chapters – The Creative Boom (1906-1925), A Unique Identity (1926-1937) and From Paris to New York (1938-1953) –, this compendium is the result of an exhaustive study, carried out with scientific rigour, of the house’s patrimonial collection, which holds more than 2,700 pieces. A magnificent reference work, it presents the incredible creativity of one of the oldest jewellers on Paris’s Place Vendôme: the holder of multiple patents and inventor of original techniques such as the Mystery SetTM, an invisible setting that uses gold rails to secure the stones, the Cercle clip, which fastens without a pin, minaudières, the Passe-Partout necklace with its Tubogas chain, or the Zip necklace whose ingenious construction, inspired by that of a zipper, transforms into a bracelet.

In the 1970s, Jacques Arpels recognised the need to assemble a collection that would preserve the artistic memory of the house whose name he shared. The oldest piece in Van Cleef & Arpels’ patrimony dates from 1906: not jewellery but a small-scale replica in gold, enamel and jasper of a steamship, the Varuna, commissioned by the ship’s owner, Eugene Higgins.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Collection, (1906-1953). Atelier EXB 668 pages.

The period covered by this first volume was not chosen by chance: 1906 is the year the Van Cleef & Arpels store opened at 22, Place Vendôme, while 1954 corresponds to the launch of the “La Boutique” concept. Also on Place Vendôme, with a separate entrance, it welcomed a younger clientele looking for less formal jewellery for every day.

Patrimony and exhibitions director Alexandrine Maviel Sonet joined Van Cleef & Arpels in April 2023. We met her in Paris, at the presentation of this first volume, to talk about a book that is precious in more ways than one.

Europa Star Jewellery: What made you choose the 1936 Fleur brooch for the cover?

Alexandrine Maviel Sonet: Firstly for the object itself, a transitional piece that is also something of a revolution in technique. One leaf presents a classic Art Deco style paved with baguette-cut diamonds, with the unexpected addition of a second leaf that employs the house’s signature Mystery Set. For this technique, patented in 1933, stones are inserted into rails so that the underlying structure remains invisible. The artisans who created the Fleur brooch in 1936 were the first to mystery-set a curved, as opposed to flat, surface. We also chose it in relation to the collection: we acquired this brooch while we were preparing the first volume of the catalogue. It’s one of the most recent jewels to enter the patrimony collection. It’s also a signature piece, spanning two periods. It is an example of both the style and savoir-faire of Van Cleef & Arpels.

Fleur brooch in platinum, yellow gold, white gold, Mystery Set rubies and diamonds. 1936. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection.

Cataloguing a patrimony implies a meticulous and methodical search of the archives. Were there any unexpected discoveries?

Writing this catalogue revealed the original inspiration behind the Corde collection. When the Théâtre de la Mode was launched in 1945 [a travelling exhibition of dolls dressed by the leading couturiers of the day, organised by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne to promote French fashion], Van Cleef & Arpels designed a gold rope belt to accessorise a Schiaparelli gown. Then in 1946-47 we see the first pieces in the Corde collection. That’s when we realised the collection originated with this Théâtre de la Mode. This is typically the kind of thing you discover when you search the archives or spend time in libraries.

The Théâtre de la Mode was a patriotic initiative so that Paris would remain the capital of couture. Has Van Cleef & Arpels made any patriotic pieces of its own?

Van Cleef & Arpels has made clips in the red, white and blue colours of the French flag and I imagine you’re familiar with the Cigognes clips [Les Cigognes (the storks) is the name of a fighter squadron of the French Air Force, founded in 1912]. This was a subtle patriotic display that tied with the animal jewellery tradition. These brooches symbolically show support for the French army at that time.

Transformable necklace in platinum, yellow gold, white gold, emeralds and diamonds. 1965. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection.. ©Buonomo & Cometti

Fashion reflects societal changes as well as the political or economic climate. In what ways has jewellery accompanied the course of history?

For example, jewellers were using a lot of yellow gold in the mid- to late 1940s because all the platinum had been requisitioned for the war effort, although this isn’t the only reason. There was a surge in the popularity of yellow gold during that period, which is when jewellers gave up using platinum. Another example would be the Touch Wood collection, introduced in 1916 during the First World War and crafted from wood and precious materials. These were lucky charms, given to men and women leaving for the front.

One period advertisement features a lady golfer wearing a watch cased in wood. Is there a connection with Touch Wood jewellery?

The Touch Wood jewellery was made for luck during the First World War, but by the 1930s, which is when this advertisement came out, wood appeared as a practical solution for women who were beginning to take part in sport and lead more active lives. It was much easier for a lady to tee off wearing a watch cased in wood, compared with a much heavier, more fragile watch in platinum and diamonds.

Around the same time, Van Cleef & Arpels imagined a Cercle brooch without a pin that changed how brooches were worn. Where did the idea come from?

This was quite a revolutionary brooch because it introduced a novel technique. Whereas other brooches are held by a pin fastened to a garment, the Cercle brooch simply clips to a lapel, a bag, anything at all. The catalogue’s second chapter, which goes from 1926 to 1937, highlights the house’s extensive expertise. The Cercle brooch was just one of numerous patents filed during those years, along with the Mystery Set and the minaudière.

Cercle brooch in platinum, rubies and diamonds. 1931. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection.

Was the Cercle brooch in response to a period when there were fewer precious objects?

I’d say it was designed more in relation to the artistic currents of the time. The book draws parallels between artistic creation and jewellery creation. The circle references the coloured circles in Sonia Delaunay’s painting. This wasn’t something born out of constraint.

How do you decide to bring a piece into the patrimony collection?

One has to be agile; this can be a fast-moving market hence you must position yourself quickly. Three people within the Patrimony team deal specifically with acquisitions for the collection. They monitor the market to know which pieces the house wishes to purchase. We know which periods are sufficiently well represented, whether by a technique or a material, and which would benefit from expansion. Take the Touffe de Violette amethyst set, for example. We already owned the ear clips and the brooch, and were recently able to complete the set after our teams located the bracelet. There is a strategy behind each purchase, but we have no control over which piece comes up for sale at a given moment. We depend on opportunities.

You buy at auction but not only. Do private individuals ever contact you directly?

Yes, people who own Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery know about the collection and get in touch with us directly, offering to sell. They recognise the benefits of having their jewellery become part of the collection, where it will be showcased and presented in exhibitions. It’s a form of recognition.

Product card for the “entwined flowers, red and white roses” bracelet (1924), awarded the Grand Prix at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. Van Cleef & Arpels Archives.

Jacques Arpels began to buy back legacy pieces in the 1970s. Is there a specific reason why he decided to start the collection?

He had a visionary mind, as evidenced in his writings. He felt it was important to talk about the house’s history and became one of the first jewellers to buy back pieces for a collection, in 1970. We have examples of documents, sketches, advertisements and press clippings which he has annotated with “keep for the centenary”. So he was already looking ahead to the house’s one hundredth year. He had a patrimonial vision and the one way to demonstrate Van Cleef & Arpels’ expertise was to show how its jewellery is rooted in history.

Has Van Cleef & Arpels ever created an identical replica of a jewel after it has been sold, to keep a trace of it in its collection?

Not that I recollect. We like jewellery that comes with a history, a story. Of course, when we launch a collection, we could set pieces aside for patrimony, but we would rather they go out into the world then come back to us later, with their experiences and their past.

“Entwined flowers, red and white roses” bracelet in platinum, emeralds, rubies, onyx, yellow diamonds and diamonds. 1924. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection.

Looking at the jewellery chosen to illustrate this period, it’s tempting to think that the most important innovations date from the time when Renée Puissant, Estelle and Alfred’s daughter, was artistic director.

History remembers Renée Puissant and we constantly pay tribute to her because every one of the major artistic innovations described in the second chapter, from 1926 to 1937, all the patents filed at that time – the Cadenas watch, the minaudière, the Mystery Set and the Cercle clip – were designed under her artistic direction. Hence the title of this chapter, A Unique Identity. She gave Van Cleef & Arpels a modern identity that echoed artistic currents. She was very much of her age. It was her idea to make practical watches for sport, which in 1930 would have been an incredibly modern thing to do. In fact she was the epitome of the modern woman and the jewellery she created matched her personality. In one photo, we can see she’s attached a diamond Copeau clip to the brim of her hat and has fastened her cape with a brooch. She would play with jewellery, wearing it in surprising new ways.

Renée Puissant, daughter of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels, was artistic director of Van Cleef & Arpels from 1926 until 1942.

In 1925 Paris hosted the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. Would you say there is a before and after 1925 at Van Cleef & Arpels?

Yes, which is precisely why the first chapter begins in 1906 and ends in 1925. It took the house 20 years to find out who it was. Those first 20 years were spent navigating between the different jewellery trends, for example Art Deco, inspiration from distant lands or the influence of Egyptomania. It’s really in 1925 and the International Exhibition that the house was recognised for its style, as the winner of the Grand Prix for its “entwined flowers, red and white roses” bracelet, which is the epitome of what Van Cleef represents: an Art Deco bracelet, yes, but rendered in a distinctive fashion that is typical of Van Cleef & Arpels style.

In fact looking at the roses on this bracelet, a milestone in jewellery history, you can see the seeds for the Mystery Set.

I hadn’t interpreted it that way but it’s true there is a definite intention to erase the metal underneath. Van Cleef & Arpels has a longstanding tradition of creating jewellery that focuses entirely on the stones.

Drawing of the collerette necklace worn by HRH Queen Nazli of Egypt (1939). Pencil and gouache on paper. Van Cleef & Arpels Archives.

There are two necklaces in the patrimony collection which were worn by Queen Nazli of Egypt. What story do these royal jewels tell?

When jewels such as these reappear, they reconnect us with History with a capital H. There is something quite moving about a jewel’s journey through time. When we see jewellery from the early twentieth century, jewellery that’s a hundred years old, we imagine everything it has seen and how it has been passed down to us.

It’s a wonder they were never dismantled!

That’s true. Jewellery was often dismantled to be refashioned into a modern design or passed on. We were touched to have found these necklaces intact.