In 1895, the familes Arples and van Cleef, respectively from Ghent and Amsterdam, were united by marriage. Both families had entered the jewellery trade in Paris after moving there in the 1860s, one as a jewellery salesman, the other as a lapidary craftsman.
Brother’s-in-law Alfred and Salomon registered their company on February 10th 1906 and were receiving clients only four months later. Two years later they were joined by another brother-in-law who specialised in gemstones and in 1912 the last brother-in-law followed suit as a “marketing genius”.
Advertisements from the early years show an impressive range of very fine jewellery and objects and the company was obviously very successful from the start as, three years after opening in Place Vendome, a second boutique was opened in the fashionable seaside resort of Dinard, followed in 1910 by one in Nice and 1912 Deauville.
After the war, which saw most of its founding members called upon to serve, the company continued to prosper and during the 1920s, not only created sumptuous jewellery but also vanity cases, cigarette boxed and a first watch.
In 1925 the firm won a Grand Prix at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. From 1926 and for the next thirteen years, the partnership with designer Rene-Sim Lacaze proved a tour de force, producing many pieces of exceptional jewellery, which propelled Van Cleef & Arpels to the forefront of French Haute Joaillerie.
In 1933, the company registered a patent for the “Serti Mysterieux” with which they have become synonymous. It was also around this time that the Minaudiere was launched, a chic way for ladies to carry their essentials in.
In 1939, VCA successfully exhibited at the New Yorl World’s Fair which coincided with the opening of an office in Rockerfeller Center and expansion into the American market. Back in Europe however, the firm was in turmoil as the onset of the war and German occupation forced most of the family to flee France leaving only one brother, Renee, to hold everything together. Although the Place Vendome boutique managed to stay open, the company was forcibly Aryanised and Renee withdrew to Vichy, working from the branch there before tragically taking his own life after the Germans invaded the Free Zone in 1942.
In 1944 the company was returned to the Arpels family with a new generation now appointed as its directors. In the years that followed they would guide the company to even greater success both at home and overseas with continuous new innovations in jewellery.
After Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco chose a suite of pearl and diamond jewellery from the New York branch, the firm was renamed ‘Official Supplier to the Principality of Monaco’. High profile clients from all over the world continued to patronise VCA including the Duchess of Windsor, Barbara Hutton, Her Imperial Highness Princess Soraya and the Empress Farah Pahlavai.
1968 saw the launch of the now iconic Alhambra design.
In 1973, they became the first French jewellery house to open a store in Japan thereby exploring the Asian market.
Between 1999 and 2003, VCA was bought by the Richmont Group.