From June 21st, 2024, to January 13th, 2025, the Galerie du Patrimoine, located within the boutique at 20 Place Vendôme in Paris, is hosting the exhibition "Van Cleef & Arpels: stroll through a jewelry garden". The event will feature 50 jewelry creations and precious objects from the Maison’s patrimonial Collection, some on display for the first time in this venue. Nine original archival documents will offer additional insight into these pieces, created between the 1930s and the early 2000s. 

Ephemeral beauty captured in a jewelry garden

The daisy, the first flower to be portrayed by the Maison, has been regularly reinterpreted ever since. Its mirror-polished yellow gold representations adorning accessories from the 1940s and 1950s are highlighted by guilloché backgrounds in the same metal. These floral surroundings add a touch of poetry to precious objects including a perfume bottle, a lighter, a fountain pen or a Minaudière™. The asymmetrical composition of the stylized daisy making up the Mini Printania clip also call forth a dynamic vision of flora. 

Embracing the influence of various artistic currents over the years, Van Cleef & Arpels has imagined figurative compositions and stylized motifs, glistening bouquets of meadow flowers or delicate floral sprays. The freshness of wildflowers or forest blossoms appear captured in their natural glory.

The launch of la boutique in 1954 initiates the growing importance of “daytime” jewelry, reflecting the variety of the Maison's expertise. Gold appears in every shape and form, sometimes encircling precious pistils or granulated to illustrate the mimosa, sometimes crafted, sculpted and mirror polish to reflect the movement of the leaves. It contrasts through flowers sculpted in translucent tourmaline and blends with precious or ornamental gems.

On some pieces, interwoven golden threads create a link between nature and couture, two realms dear to Van Cleef & Arpels. Bud, petal, calyx, stamen, stem, leaf,...each part of the flower can become a couture motif or a passementerie adornment. 

Nature in perpetual metamorphosis

An abiding source of inspiration, the rhythm of the seasons gives birth to myriad compositions ranging from dainty to majestic. The Maison has created delicate bouquets with flowers of gold, rubies and sapphires. Spring inspires a Daisy clip featuring ten emerald-set capitula, while mirror-polished buttercups and anemones poetically evoke the summer season.

The precious dialogue of flora and fauna

Van Cleef & Arpels’ luxuriant garden lovingly complements this precious flora with a few mischievous animals. Strolling through this bejeweled garden, the visitor catches the eye of ladybugs, a main character in the Maison's bestiary, and a delicate bee with golden wings. A bird with plumage as colorful as a flowerbed is also nestled in the decor.

The Maison’s deep-rooted inquisitiveness into the natural world has inspired countless creations. Today, the "Van Cleef & Arpels: stroll through a jewelry garden" exhibition reveals the exquisite beauty of such an excursion. It demonstrates the High Jewelry Maison’s gift, throughout its history, for immortalizing two intrinsically fleeting universes: flora and fauna.