Since 2013, Van Cleef & Arpels has been a regular participant in the Fine Art and Antique Fair TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) in Maastricht. A key event for the art market, each year this prestigious assembly attracts art lovers, collectors, as well as public and private institutions from around the world. From March 14 to 19, the most distinguished worldwide galleries will be displaying masterpieces of various art forms (paintings by acclaimed artists, antiques and more). Alongside these treasures, the Maison is exhibiting some 40 time-honoured pieces from its Heritage collection illustrating its role in 20th century decorative arts. This selection, which is offered for sale, highlights one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ technical signatures - transformability - as well as its gemological expertise.

The Heritage collection

Born in 2007, the Heritage collection brings together time-honoured creations designed and fashioned by the Maison between the 1920s and the 1990s, and intended for sale. Today, this selection comprises some 150 pieces representing Jewellery, High Jewellery and precious objects. It is distinct from the patrimonial Collection, which is composed of creations owned by the Maison and destined for display at exhibitions around the world.

Before entering the Heritage collection, each creation is carefully examined by Van Cleef & Arpels’ experts. In the workshops, craftsmen analyse its condition and materials. Once it has been cleaned, any necessary repairs are carried out, in keeping with the savoir-faire and high standards of the Maison. The Heritage Department’s buyers ensure that each piece is properly identified. With the help of Patrimony Department members, they perform research in the Van Cleef & Arpels Archives, rigorously exploring client files, account books and sketch libraries to authenticate each creation and issue the associated certificate, a precondition for it to join the Heritage collection and to be made available for sale.

“Every year, TEFAF Maastricht provides an opportunity for Van Cleef & Arpels to put rare pieces on display. Representing various periods and sources of inspiration, they reflect the full richness of our Heritage collection. This year, we will be celebrating white High Jewellery through creations dating from the 1940s to the 1960s. We will also highlight the influence of historicism at the Maison with a demi-parure mingling diamonds and sumptuous rubies.” says Natacha Vassiltchikov, High Jewellery Retail Director.

About Van Cleef & Arpels

Founded at Paris’ 22 Place Vendôme in 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels came into being following Estelle Arpels’ marriage to Alfred Van Cleef in 1895. Over the decades, the excellence and creativity of the High Jewellery and Watchmaking Maison established its reputation across the world. With a blend of inventiveness and poetry, Van Cleef & Arpels perpetuates a highly distinctive style that has produced numerous signatures: the Mystery Set technique, the Minaudière precious case, the transformable Zip necklace and the Alhambra motif. Its selection of gems that instil an emotion and the savoir-faire of its craftsmen have given birth to enchanting jewellery and watchmaking collections.

Van Cleef & Arpels blends the excellence of its High Jewellery savoir-faire with great delicacy of vision to imbue the most precious materials with lightness and movement. Flowers, arabesques and feminine figures appear to come to life in three dimensions, while asymmetry bestows a subtle dynamism on certain pieces.

Van Cleef & Arpels also encourages the spread of jewellery expertise throughout the world and the preservation of its traditional crafts by collaborating with such leading schools as l’École de Bijouterie Joaillerie de Paris, l’École Boulle and ESSEC’s Chaire Savoir-Faire d’Exception. These initiatives express the Maison’s ever-increasing involvement with younger generations, in order to foster High Jewellery skills and encourage their future development.

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