house love

The rich history of Van Cleef & Arpels spans more than a century of innovation, elegance and extraordinary craftsmanship, its prized creations ever alluring. 280 such pieces, bolstered by a treasure trove of archival documents, sketches and gouaché designs, are the subject of blockbuster exhibition Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love, now on show at The Saudi National Museum in Riyadh. AIR meets its celebrated curator, Alba Cappellieri, for the inside story of a dazzling display of artistry…

Van Cleef & Arpels

Time, Nature, Love

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh Running until April 15, 2023

Curator: Alba Cappellieri Designer: Johanna Grawunder

The enchanting story of Van Cleef & Arpels comprises a myriad of compelling chapters.

It begins with one that tells of love; the marriage of young couple Alfred Van Cleef, son of a diamond broker, and Estelle Arpels, daughter of a precious stones merchant, a solid bond on which the foundation for the maison’s enduring legacy was built. And it weaves majestically through the decades, from the outset of the twentieth century in Paris, when its spiritual home and first boutique was opened at 22 Place Vendôme, to the 1930s, a decade rich in innovation encapsulated by the distinctive design of the Cadenas watch and the masterful Mystery Set technique. And from the 1950s, when the transformative ( literally and, for jewellery design as a whole, figuratively) Zip necklace was perfected, to 2010’s magnificently romantic Pont des Amoureux timepiece, the recipient of that year’s Ladies’ Watch Prize at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

It remains within the fabled walls of 22 Place Vendôme that many such historic treasures are fashioned by hand, where seemingly impossible ideas are made possible, where for over a century the highly skilled artisans of the maison have performed their cherished craft, handing down their expert knowledge to the next generation of craftspeople, continuing the story, expanding the universe.

It’s a story that has been told down the years via blockbuster exhibitions in many parts of the world, from New York to Tokyo. Now it’s the turn of Saudi Arabia. Supported by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love, on show now at The National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh until April 15, draws together some 280 jewellery items, watches and precious objects created by Van Cleef & Arpels since its founding in 1906, coupled with more than 90 archival documents, sketches and gouaché designs.

The task of curating what is the largest exhibition of its type to ever be staged in the Kingdom befell Alba Cappellieri, Professor of Jewellery Design at Milan Polytechnic University and President of the Milano Fashion Institute. She boasts an encyclopaedic knowledge of Van Cleef & Arpels’ vast archive and possesses a creative verve that ensures the exhibition is far removed from a formulaic showcase of iconic creations, past and present, one in sync with the atmospheric, immersive scenography fashioned by internationally renowned architect-designer, Johanna Grawunder.

“My first idea was not to show the most exceptional gemstones, the most famous and spectacular jewellery pieces, but try to write a different story,” says Cappellieri. “Van Cleef & Arpels is the most innovative jewellery company from this perspective. After studying in its archives for three years, I realised there are so many pieces you’ve never seen, so many stories you don’t know. It would be a disservice to the maison to only show the masterpieces and not share these other stories.

The idea she struck upon was to interpret

Van Cleef & Arpels’ patrimonial oeuvre via three distinct chapters. “I consider Time, Nature and Love to be the most important and most representative values of life and consequently of the objects that accompany our daily lives,” she says. “Unfortunately, such values are not very easy to find in jewellery because jewellery is always in balance between eternity and ephemeral, tradition and fashion, love and investment, beauty and concept, nature and fiction.

“High jewellery indulges in a timeless dimension, uninterested in the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. This does not apply to Van Cleef & Arpels, which has always had a strong focus on time. What this exhibition demonstrates is the maison’s ability to represent a fragmented period like the twentieth century and its aporia, the capacity to epitomise the eternal values of beauty and, at the same time, the fleeting power of seduction.

“Coming from a design culture, where every object must represent its time, I realised that the ability of Van Cleef & Arpels is in bridging sometimes controversial aspects. You find alternative and ephemeral, you find global and local. You can find the details and the big gems. You can find beauty in terms of ornamentation, and you can find science in terms of innovation.”

Innovation is one area in which Van Cleef & Arpels truly excels. The blissful union of masterful watchmaking and jewellery savoir-faire has birthed evermore extraordinary, ever-more daring designs, many ahead of their time.

“The maison’s first watches, such as the Pendant watch from 1912 and the Lapel watches of the early 1920s illustrate very well the new Art Deco aesthetic in advance of the Paris International Exhibition in 1925, when the Art Deco movement was launched.”

That was also the decade in which Van Cleef & Arpels debuted its first ‘secret’ watch, the dial hidden by jewels. “The Cadenas wristwatch and the Ludo secret watch (named in reference to Louis Arpels, known to his friends as ‘Ludo’) are some of my favourite examples for the maison’s ability to combine the supreme craftsmanship of the bracelets with the innovative mechanisms of the watches.”

A 1949 example of the Ludo ‘secret’ bracelet-watch on show at the exhibition, its rectangular dial concealed beneath two spring-loaded, brick-patterned gold flaps, also features the renowned Mystery Set technique. “The Mystery Set is one of the most relevant innovations in the history of jewellery,” states Cappellieri emphatically. “It is a true feat and an iconic example of Van Cleef & Arpels’ unparalleled expertise.”

The technique, patented in 1933, makes it possible to set precious stones (rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds) with no prong or other metal component visible. “You can admire some of the most impressive examples of this magic technique in the exhibition’s Exactitude Room,” details Cappellieri.

She is equally effusive of Van Cleef & Arpels’ interpretation of nature, a muse for many jewellery houses. What does she think sets the maison apart? “Through Van Cleef & Arpels’ creations, nature becomes art, in terms of gemstones and craftsmanship, but also as a humanistic attitude towards harmony.” You see this expressed in the form of blooming flora and joyful fauna, brought to near life through vibrant colours and the supremely skilled use of precious stones. Such creations have been a characteristic of the maison for a century, with fine examples on show at the exhibition including the Bird of Paradise clip from 1942, its wings depicted outspread in flight, radiant in rubies and sapphires; its body sculpted in yellow gold; and its beak dotted with brilliant-cut diamonds.

Chief among the world’s most desired jewellery maisons, Van Cleef & Arpels’ long list of clients naturally includes some of modern history’s most influential females; Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner brought Van Cleef & Arpels’ designs to Hollywood, while the likes of Queen Sirikit of Thailand, Princess Fawzia of Egypt and the Empress of Iran, Farah Diba, gave them the royal seal of approval.

Many of the bonds Van Cleef & Arpels formed were with lionized couples, their extraordinary pieces gifted as declarations of love, thereby influencing some of the most legendary love stories of the twentieth century. “For me, love is the most powerful energy in the world and every piece of jewellery is crafted with love. But there are two creations that really stand out. Firstly, the Barquerolles choker, given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton in 1971 to mark the birth of her first grandchild, hence the couple’s pet name for the piece: the ‘granny necklace’. The passionate love story that united these two Hollywood idols abounds with exceptional jewels like this piece,” enthuses Cappellieri.

“The second is a tiara worn in 1978 by Princess Grace at the wedding of her daughter, Caroline. It was a tiara in platinum set with round, pear-shaped and marquise-cut diamonds for a total of 144 gems weighing 77.34 carats. This exquisite diadem is transformable, as it can also be worn as a necklace.”

It was, of course, due to love that the story of Van Cleef & Arpels began, and its latest chapter, as told so engagingly by Cappellieri in Riyadh, is testament of its enduring influence on a maison whose timeless designs never fail to capture your heart.