Van Cleef & Arpels—
Unveiling the Mystery

They say, “Success begins with the right location.” The first Van Cleef & Arpels boutique opened in 1906 in a location that was, in every sense, exceptional: 22 Place Vendôme, directly opposite the luxurious Hôtel Ritz Paris—already a magnet for the world’s most elegant clientele. The Parisian atelier was founded on love—and on a shared passion for diamonds—by Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels. She was the daughter of a gem dealer, he the son of a gem cutter—a marriage made in sparkling heaven. According to early records, the very first item sold was, fittingly, a heart set with diamonds. What began as a small, tightly-knit family enterprise—joined by Estelle’s brothers, Charles, Julien, and Louis Arpels—is today an international success. Van Cleef & Arpels employs more than 4,000 people worldwide and sits within the portfolio of the Swiss luxury group, Richemont.

Playing with Diamonds
Throughout its history, the Maison has been known not only for its romantic designs, but also for its innovative creations. However, the pieces that brought the company its greatest fame and recognition can be traced back to another member of the family: Renée, the daughter of Alfred and Estelle. Playing with diamonds like we do plastic pearls, Renée could not have become anything else but a jeweler. In 1917, she married the love of her life, Émile Puissant, who entered the firm and quickly assumed a leading role.

By the mid-1920s, Van Cleef & Arpels had secured its position at Place Vendôme and, with a certain instinct for where its clients preferred to spend their free time, expanded to seasonal boutiques in Deauville, Monte Carlo, and Nice—luxury, quite literally, following its clientele on holiday. In 1925, the Maison was awarded the Grand Prix at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Soon Indian maharajas and the Shah of Iran joined the client list—Van Cleef & Arpels was even commissioned to create parts of the Iranian crown jewels.

Instinct and Courage
Then everything shifted at once. Renée’s husband Émile died in a car accident in 1926, leaving her, at the age of 29, with both crippling grief and immense responsibility. Under pressure, Renée revealed her true brilliance, much like the diamonds she worked with. She stepped into the role of artistic director—without formal training but with something more valuable: instinct and courage. At her side was René Sim Lacaze, one of the most important jewelry designers of his generation. Together, they began to move the house away from tradition to designs that felt distinctly modern.

During this period, the Maison began refining technical approaches that would culminate in the Mystery Setting. On December 2, 1933, VCA received a patent titled simply “method for setting precious stones.” It became later known as the Serti Mystérieux, or Mystery Setting.

The idea of an “invisible” setting was not entirely new. As early as 1904, jeweler Chaumet had secured a patent for a similar approach and Cartier followed with its own version in 1932. It was, however, Van Cleef & Arpels that refined the technique—not only for flat surfaces but also for three-dimensional pieces. It remains one of the most iconic jewelry breakthroughs of the 20th century.

The Mystery Setting technique allows gemstones to appear without any visible support. What one sees is pure surface: uninterrupted color, with no metal to disrupt the illusion. To achieve this, each stone—most often rubies or sapphires—must be cut with utmost precision and subtly grooved so it can be guided onto an internal framework of fine rails. Once assembled, the structure disappears entirely, leaving only a continuous field of gemstones.

As Alexandrine Maviel-Sonet, Director of Patrimony and Exhibitions at Van Cleef & Arpels, explains: “The Mystery Setting does not only require the expertise of the stone setter, but also that of the gemologist (for the choice of gems), the jeweler (for the mount), and the specially qualified ‘Mystery Set lapidary’ (for cutting and fixing the stones). Its success—over 300 hours of work for the mounting of a clip—can only be the result of a collective process, undertaken by a group of craftsmen.”

The earliest applications of the technique appeared on flat objects: cufflinks, powder compacts, and minaudières—small, exquisitely crafted evening cases, often made of precious materials and designed to hold a woman’s essentials, from lipstick and powder to, occasionally, a cigarette.

Gemstones with Personality
Van Cleef & Arpels took the technique further. In 1936, the company was granted another patent—this time for a method to use an invisible setting on curved or twisted surfaces. This allowed the creation of incredible three-dimensional objects of art. Flower brooches with smooth gemstone petals and delicately curved leaves followed, ultimately making the Mystery Setting one of the Maison’s most recognizable signatures. The jeweler, part architect, part engineer, must think in three dimensions, anticipating the movement of the metal as the rails are cut and the very “soul” of the piece is shaped. The Mystery Set enables gemstones to “send colors to each other,” as experts in the Maison’s Stone Department say, adding that “they warm each other.” One almost begins to suspect that the gemstones have personalities of their own.

What began as meticulously precise work in the small backroom of a workshop soon found its way onto the luminous stage of international high society, shining on royal necks and stealing the show. The Mystery Setting was so extraordinary that King Edward VIII commissioned a set of jewelry to court Wallis Simpson. The flowers, set in rubies and diamonds, proved—as history shows—entirely effective; they soon married. Van Cleef & Arpels was swept into worldwide stardom as the new “it-jeweler” for tastemakers.

Times of Darkness
Then the story darkens. As a Jewish family, the Arpels were forced to leave Paris during the German occupation and the company was placed under administration by the Vichy regime. While parts of the family relocated to the United States—most notably to New York, where they opened a boutique at 744 Fifth Avenue—Renée remained in France, in the unoccupied zone in Vichy. In 1942, as Nazi control extended and the threat of arrest became imminent, Renée chose to end her life.

The Mystery Setting technique, so unique to the company, was nearly abandoned during the 1940s, as war, cost, the loss of skilled craftsmen, and a lack of demand made its production impossible. After the war, the surviving members of the family, including founder Estelle and her brothers, returned to Paris, where they regained control of the business and resumed operations at Place Vendôme.

Finding Light Again
In the 1950s, the Maison gradually re-established itself. If the pre-war years had been about invention, the post-war decades were about finding light again. The Arpels brothers revived the Mystery Setting with remarkable determination—even calling a retired lapidary back to the bench to train a new generation and bring the technique back to life. Iconic creations associated with hope, optimism, and luck—such as fairies, butterflies, and the Alhambra clover—reflect a resilience that endures to this day.

As Alexandrine Maviel-Sonet notes, “The commitment to pushing boundaries has never ceased until today.” The 2019 Italian Rose clip, which used oblong marquise-cut gems to create exceptional volume, or the ‘Pomme de pin’ clip, launched in 2018, required 10 years of research and over 4,500 hours of meticulous work.

For those inclined to take a closer look at the Mystery Setting, Vienna offers a wonderful opportunity this summer. At the MAK – Museum für Angewandte Kunst, the exhibition Glanzstücke brings together around 500 objects—over 300 from Van Cleef & Arpels alongside more than 200 exceptional works from the MAK’s own collection—opening up a conversation about exceptional design, craftsmanship, and visionary thinking, and prompting the question: Where does craftsmanship end and art begin?