This book is a poetic and timeless memento, a voyage into the heart of jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels’ universe to discover their creations.

This opus, arranged as an alphabetical guide, is a veritable A-Z lexicon that revisits the themes and codes of the famous jeweler: indispensable historical references to emblematic jewels, precision watchmaking and jewelry-making techniques demonstrating unique savoir faire, and artistic collaborations. Fabienne Reybaud’s lively text leads the reader into the center of an enchanting world where everything wondrous and fantastical serves as an ever-rejuvenating source of inspiration and creativity.

This poetic and timeless memento is magnificently illustrated with fabulous miniature worlds inhabited by the masterpieces that have forged the international identity and renown of the jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels.

About the Author:

Fabienne Reybaud is a distinguished editor specialized in the luxury world, notably in jewelry and watchmaking. She writes for the most prestigious French publications and has published more than ten books, including Jewelry Guide: The Ultimate Compendium (Assouline, 2022), Louis Vuitton Tambour (Thames & Hudson, 2022), Effortless Style: Casa Lopez with Pierre Sauvage (Flammarion, 2018), Rolex: The Impossible Collection (Assouline, 2018), Watches: The Ultimate Guide (Assouline, 2006/2010), and 100 Montres de Légende with Frédéric Ramade (Solar,1999).

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The French High Jewelry Maison through more than 500 creations and archival documents, from 1906 to nowadays 

This book presents the legendary jewellery and precious objects of Van Cleef & Arpels, and how they relate to time, nature and love. Time is a fundamental element for both creativity and craftsmanship. Time gives objects their shape; defines their style; determines their function, social utility, and the choice of materials and techniques; indicates origin; hones taste; and reveals context. Time is interpreted through eight values inspired by Italo Calvino’s Lezioni Americane, or Six Memos for the Next Millennium, to honor the iconic pieces created by Van Cleef & Arpels over the years, from Art Deco masterpieces to the illustrious Zip necklace, gravity-defying Mystery Set, or celebrated Minaudières ― some of the most important innovations in the history of 20th-century jewellery-making.

Nature plays an equally important role for Van Cleef & Arpels as an ever-present source of inspiration and tribute, embodied in unique gems and timeless masterpieces drawing on flora and fauna. Van Cleef & Arpels is founded on love, the most powerful energy in the world. Each object is handcrafted with love, and Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery has sealed some of the century’s most legendary love stories.

In a brilliant historical and critical essay, illuminated by a stunning iconographic selection of jewellery, precious objects and archive materials, this work describes the Maison’s eternal values of time, nature and love.

About the Authors:

Alba Cappellieri is Full Professor of Jewelry and Fashion Accessories Design at Politecnico di Milano, where she is Director of the International Master’s in Jewellery and Fashion Accessories and the Master’s in Fashion Design, and teaches Brand and Product Management at Milano Fashion Institute (under the consortium with Politecnico di Milano, Bocconi University and Università Cattolica).

From 2013 to 2016 she taught Design for Innovation at Stanford University. Alba Cappellieri is a member of the Scientific Council at the Van Cleef & Arpels School of Jewelry Arts in Paris and an advisor with the Creative Academy of the Cologni Foundation in Milan. She was appointed Ambassador of Italian Design for Italian Design Day in Osaka in 2017, in Sydney in 2018 and in Baku in 2019. Since 2014, she has been Director of the Museo del Gioiello jewelry museum in Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza, Italy’s first museum exclusively dedicated to jewelry.

Her recent publications include: Gioielli, Dall’Art Nouveau al 3d Printing (Skira, 2018), Catene, gioielli tra storia, funzione e ornamento(Silvana Editoriale, 2018), Brilliant (Corraini, 2016), Gioielli alla Moda (Corraini, 2016), Gioielli sentimentali (Marsilio, 2014), Il design italiano incontra il gioiello, with M. Romanelli (Marsilio, 2013).

From Empress Farah and the secrets of the treasure of Iran, to Queen Marie Amélie’s missing emeralds, via Fantômas and the blood-red rubies of the kings of Burma, entering the world of Van Cleef & Arpels is like embarking upon a fascinating treasure hunt. In this book, Vincent Meylan explores a century in the history of one of the most prestigious Parisian jewellery dynasties. He opens doors and unlocks caskets to reveal the mysterious, and sometimes fantastic, stories of its clients and the fabulous and exceptional stones that they entrusted to the “golden hands” of Van Cleef & Arpels. The Maharani of Baroda, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Lilian of Belgium, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Grace of Monaco, Maria Callas, Barbara Hutton and the Countess of Camargo: they are all the heroines of this incredible epic full of rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires.

Van Cleef & Arpels: Treasures and Legends is full of extravagant fairytales and fascinating behind-the-scenes revelations. It also tells the sometimes troubled story of a dynasty of jewellers, of gifted men and women who have, for over a century, helped to shape that inimitably Parisian art de vivre that is the envy of the world.

About the Author:

Vincent Meylan is responsible for the history and royalty pages in Point de Vue. He is also a specialist in precious stones and in 'haute joaillerie'. He is the author of several biographies, Queens' Jewels and Boucheron: The Secret Archives.

A tribute to the sumptuous jewelry and the glamorous history of Van Cleef & Arpels

For more than a century, the designs of the French jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels have represented the marriage of an unrivaled sense of elegance with an extraordinary level of technical expertise and prowess. The comprehensive monograph Van Cleef & Arpels: The Art & Science of Gems is a glittering, gorgeous tribute to a century of luxurious, glamorous jewelry design and incomparable mastery of materials. Lavishly illustrated with meticulous photographs by Patrick Gries, the book’s pages are filled with sparkling chalcedony, cornelian, rubies, emeralds and colored diamonds, beautifully set off and enhanced by the jeweler’s designs (at alternate moments whimsical or understated, as the materials demand).

Suggesting the complexity and richness of Van Cleef & Arpels’ output, the book is organized thematically around categories such as “Abstractions,” “Couture,” “Nature” and “Icons,” and additionally features some of the legendary stones from the annals of the house’s history, such as the “Blue Princess” sapphire and the “Walska Briolette Diamond” brooch. Texts by art historians, personalities from the fashion world and mineralogists offer context and highlight the full extent of the jeweler’s art. Essential for those who love and lust after jewelry design, this eminently covetable volume celebrates the Van Cleef & Arpels style.