Exceptional love affairs

Since 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels and its clients have shared a wonderful love story. The most demanding personalities, the greatest aesthetes, have chosen the jeweller to express their passion. The stones of exceptional quality, the craftsmanship for more than one hundred years, the style inspired by nature, the discreet elegance and extreme refinement meet their pressing desire for perfection. As essential as the words “I love you” Van Cleef & Arpels’ creations beautifully adorn legendary actresses, celebrate the union of kings and queens, and honour the exalted passion of two lovers. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor (desperately in love, and fervent collectors of magnificent Van Cleef & Arpels creations), Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Marlene Dietrich, the Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, Their Serene Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Monaco, therefore all naturally chose Van Cleef & Arpels.

Your love is unique

Enter a Van Cleef & Arpels boutique to choose an engagement ring... and your love story will blossom even more beautifully.
Ever since its creation, Van Cleef & Arpels has been guiding its clients, accompanying them in their journey and sharing in their happiness. You, too, will benefit from our sound advice and be presented with the ring that corresponds perfectly to your love. The quality of the stones meets some of the most exacting selection criteria of all the Place Vendôme jewellers. The refined style inspired by nature or couture, recognisable at first glance and the incredible High Jewellery craftsmanship passed on by our master craftsmen, render Van Cleef & Arpels engagement rings and wedding bands truly unique. Every day, your Van Cleef & Arpels ring will offer you renewed emotion, a testimony to its incomparable appeal.
The ring that you choose is a promise of happiness.

The “Mains d’Or” master craftsmen

Van Cleef & Arpels dedicates its exceptional High Jewellery expertise to lovers. At the heart of the city of love, the “Mains d’Or”, or master craftsmen with the “Golden Hands”, combine their expertise, working in unison at the Place Vendôme workshop. Guided by their search for perfection, the greatest treasure of these expert artisans is their hands, which craft the jewellery. Passion, the very highest of standards, and virtuosity acquired over many years of experience are key to this place, which gathers together some truly unique talents.

Each individual carries out his meticulous work on an oak workbench using tools that he has created himself. He never lets them out of his sight. On his knees is a piece of leather allowing him to retrieve any of the precious materials that may have fallen.

Aware that the ring symbolises intense, unique love, the craftsmen sculpt the precious metal, set the purest of stones and polish the setting with as much care and attention as for a High Jewellery piece. From the creative dialogue between the Mains d’Or, from their exchanges, a magical synergy gives birth to a truly exceptional creation.

For you, Van Cleef & Arpels lifts the veil on a few of the secrets of these extraordinary craftsmen...

The design

It is our High Jewellery designers who provide the creative impetus behind our engagement rings.
The solitaire is one of the most delicate, subtle pieces to conceive.
Representing the first stage in its creation, the design expresses the style and creativity of Van Cleef & Arpels.

From the first pencil sketch, the jeweller’s themes of choice- nature, couture and magic- make their appearance. Drawn free-hand, the design depicts the ring, its shape, three dimensions and the stones that will allow it to sparkle. Next, the colour is applied. Using an extremely fine brush, the designers delicately add the gouache. This highly pigmented paint allows the sparkle of the stones and their three dimensions to be recreated as closely as possible.

Numbered and bearing the jeweller’s seal, the design is then archived, thus forming part of the Van Cleef & Arpels heritage.
The spirit of the ring begins to take shape.

Crafting the jewellery

The jeweller crafts the precious metal patiently and delicately.
Guided by his passion for his work, he sculpts and shapes the setting then refines the parts that will host each of the stones in order to allow the light to pass through them. The great talent of the master jeweller is the ability to render the structural elements of the setting indiscernible, the better to reveal the sparkle of the stone. He also ensures the lightness and comfort of the ring so that, once placed on the finger, its presence is no longer felt. This search for perfection, expressed in the smallest of details, is the mark of the High Jeweller.

Throughout the successive steps, the setting takes shape, preparing to receive the stone.

Selecting the stones

Van Cleef & Arpels is one of the few jewellers to offer its clients some of the most beautiful stones in the world. The diamonds proposed possess an incomparable secret: their unique sparkle and purity, which allow them to shine with a singular spirit.

Day after day, at the heart of the workshop, our expert gemmologists research and select the purest, most exceptional of stones. Only those gems that meet the very strictest selection criteria are retained.
Nonetheless, simple quality standards do not suffice when identifying an exceptional gem... With his most precious tool, his eyes, the gemmologist inspects and examines the stones one by one, in search of a stone with character.

He observes and considers the size, shape, colour and purity of the stone at different times of day, retaining only the ones whose extra spirit makes his heart beat faster.

Gem setting

The gem-setter performs his profession like an art, and the delicacy of the stones that he handles demands constant attention.

He lays the stones on the setting crafted by the jeweller, fixing them in place. This apparently simple process is in reality an extremely complex technique that demands precise, meticulous work.

The balance and positioning of the stones means even the slightest imperfection cannot be tolerated, and the gem-setter strives to find the very best arrangement, adjusting them impeccably with the aid of a graver. He then sets them, crafting the prongs so that they vanish from sight in order to reveal the stone, while the mise à jour technique deriving from High Jewellery allows the light to be reflected in a sumptuous sparkle. The gem-setter’s art consists of giving the illusion that the stones appear to adhere to the setting by magic.

Polishing

Polishing is a technique carried out entirely by hand, requiring agility, delicacy and meticulous attention to detail.

Using soft silk brushes, skeins of cotton or linen thread that are both soft and strong, and strips of fabric of various widths, the polisher-craftsman brushes even the smallest surfaces of the ring with extreme patience in order to reveal and deepen their sparkle. Every ring is polished at least three times, during which process the craftsman makes every element of the jewellery shine, be it visible or concealed from sight.

Prongs, grains, mises à jour... the engagement ring is entirely polished to a gleam, inside and out.

Once polished, all it needs is to be chosen by the hand that it will adorn.

Since 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels has drawn its inspiration from love, which it reveals through the poetic world of its creations.
Its style, inspired by the variations of nature or couture, is expressed simply and elegantly in order to enchant the onlooker at every moment.

The result of over one hundred years of expertise passed down by our Mains d’Or, each ring possesses a singular spirit, and is the promise of rare emotions.

Crafted by each of the Mains d’Or in the Van Cleef & Arpels workshops, it tells of the jeweller’s excellence and offers itself to you, ready to form part of your unique story...

The 5 Cs

The diamond certification standard elaborating the 4 Cs was developed by the GIA, an internationally recognise institution. These criteria combine Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat, and determine the quality of the diamond an its value.
Van Cleef & Arpels selects its diamonds according to the GIA’s criteria, but it attains the ultimate level of excellence by choosing only the highest categories according to strict criteria. It is one of the few jewellers to offer such rigorous, remarkable quality.
The 4 Cs are essential but not sufficient in order to guarantee a rare, extraordinary stone. Van Cleef & Arpels goes further with an additional self-imposed constraint: the 5th C, “Character”. Every diamond is examined under a magnifying glass in order to evaluate its fire, brightness and ultimate brilliance.
A diamond selected by Van Cleef & Arpels is a guarantee that you possess a truly exceptional stone.

Colour

Colour is essential when determining the value of a diamond. It is evaluated on a scale ranging from D (diamond of exceptional whiteness) to Z (diamond that is “tinted” white in colour).
The whiter the diamond, the rarer it is.

For its solitaires, Van Cleef & Arpels exclusively selects diamonds belonging to the most irreproachable categories: D (exceptional white +) and E (exceptional white), making them stones of extraordinary rarity.*

D E F G H I J K L M N-R S-Z

Colourless

Nearly
Colourness

Pale
Yellow

Very light
yellow

Light
yellow

* This selection mode only applies to the centre stones.

Cut

A diamond’s cut concerns its shape and proportions. The precise position of the facets plays a determining role in the diamond’s value.
Of the numerous existing diamond shapes, the most well-known are the brilliant, oval, marquise, pear-shaped, heart-shaped, emerald and princess cuts. All cuts are carefully studied in order to increase and emphasise the stone’s brilliance. Van Cleef & Arpels’ experts seek the perfect cut, the better to reveal the sparkle and brilliance of the stone. Only “excellent” and “very good” cuts are selected.

brilliant

oval

marquise

pear
shaped

heart
shaped

emerald

princess

The 5th C: Character

Our expert gemmologists select the rarest, most extraordinary stones according to the rigorous 4 Cs rule, but they also pay careful attention to another criterion, known as the 5th C: Character.
Under light, and at different times of day, each diamond examined under a magnifying glass is screened for the 5th C. It must make the gemmologist’s heart beat faster, convey unique emotion, and be the most captivating. Its beautiful spirit, bewitching charm and character render the stone irresistibly engaging. Only once it has met these rigorous conditions will it be permitted to adorn a Van Cleef & Arpels ring.

Certification

Every central stone selected by Van Cleef & Arpels receives a certificate issued by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), an independent laboratory respected throughout the world. The “identity card” that it provides certifies the quality of the stone and lists its properties.
Van Cleef & Arpels adds a supplementary commitment to the GIA certification. The Van Cleef & Arpels Certificate of Authenticity bears witness to the authenticity and exceptional nature of the creation, as well as its long-term follow-up. It guarantees that the ring was created by the Van Cleef & Arpels workshops according to the strictest criteria of expertise, virtuosity and creativity. It is also an assurance of the enduring ties that unite the jeweller and its clients.

Service

Van Cleef & Arpels offers you all the personalised service of a great High Jewellery Maison and follows the life of your ring: personalised engraving, the addition of a secret, intimate message, cleaning of the ring or setting and much more...
Van Cleef & Arpels reserves its most careful attention for you, meeting your every requirement or providing sound advice thanks to its experts present in the boutiques and workshops.
The confidence that you show us when purchasing one of our creations demands that we offer you an infallible, attentive reception.

Ethics

Van Cleef & Arpels has been a member of the “Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices” (CRJP) since October 2005.
This not-for-profit organisation promotes responsible practices in all stages of the jewellery trade, from the mine to the boutique. Van Cleef & Arpels also subscribes to the Kimberley Process (KPCS) and the World Diamond Council, guarantee systems that aim to end the trade in diamonds resulting from war and ensure that purchased stones do not originate from armed conflicts. All the stones proposed by Van Cleef & Arpels scrupulously respect the Kimberley Process and are therefore not conflict diamonds.
Our clients are thus fully assured that they are selecting responsibly produced jewellery.