In 1896, Estelle Arpels, daughter of a precious stone dealer, married Alfred Van Cleef, son of a stone-cutter. The enthusiasm of youth, a passion for jewellery, a pioneering spirit and constant family support urged the young couple to become partners with Estelle’s brothers: respectively Charles in 1906 followed by Julien Arpels in 1908, and finally by Louis in 1912. In 1906, they registered the ‘Van Cleef & Arpels’ name and set up their business at 22, place Vendôme. A Maison was born.

The three main themes of Van Cleef & Arpels have been ever represented in both their High Jewellery and Creative Jewellery collections. That is to say: Nature with leaves, flowers, birds and insects; Couture with net, bows and lace; and the world of the Imagination with fairies, stories and myths. These are all motifs that express life and movement. For Van Cleef & Arpels the flower is not immobile, it opens, the butterfly does not stay still, it flies away. The result is a specific Van Cleef & Arpels aesthetic: asymmetry. Asymmetry is the mark of the living. And, paradoxically, of harmony.

Spirit and elegance: equally fascinating, equally difficult to define. The spirit of the Maison of Van Cleef & Arpels, a subtle combination of values and styles, was born with the love story of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels and enriched over the years by fraternity, fidelity, femininity, refinement and a daring kind of elegance, all expressing a unique philosophy : time is renewal.

On the other hand, time at Van Cleef & Arpels is also precious and measured. The Maison’s extraordinary watches are the very incarnation of time which is, above all, poetry. For Van Cleef & Arpels, roses have no thorns, wild animals no claws.