Fantastic fusion: Van Cleef & Arpels’ homage to the beauty of art and science
Adding to Van Cleef & Arpels’ increasingly impressive bibliotheque comes a companion publication to this year’s 'The Art & Science of Gems' exhibition at the Moshe Safdie-designed ArtScience Museum in Singapore.
Page upon sumptuous page of historical jewels display the height of the French house's rich, curious and gorgeously offbeat approach to precious metals and stones. Among the most wondrous are the objet designs of the early 20th century – a carved jade pillbox, gold champagne swizzle, and a quartz and onyx nightlight among them. They are interspersed among more recognisable Van Cleef jewellery designs, such as diamond ribbon collars, clips and cuffs, and figurative pieces.
Gold, pearls, jade, coral, emeralds, rock crystal and diamonds are just some of the rare minerals and gemstones linking natural scientific processes to over a century of exceptional creative interpretation.
Overall, The Art & Science of Gems, with the French National Museum of History as a partner, does much to illuminate the deep cultural seam that renders high jewellery design such an extraordinary art form. At the same time, it once again highlights Van Cleef & Arpels as the most cerebral of the Place Vendôme jewellers.
INFORMATION
The Art & Science of Gems, $75, published by Editions Xavier Barral. For more information, visit the Van Cleef & Arpels website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Caragh McKay is a contributing editor at Wallpaper* and was watches & jewellery director at the magazine between 2011 and 2019. Caragh’s current remit is cross-cultural and her recent stories include the curious tale of how Muhammad Ali met his poetic match in Robert Burns and how a Martin Scorsese Martin film revived a forgotten Osage art.
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
All smiles: How a grillz jewellery making class in London became an international hit
What started as a passion project quickly exploded in popularity. We get the story behind the grillz-making workshop at Cockpit London
By Elisa Anniss Published
-
Van Cleef & Arpels' immersive London exhibition takes visitors inside the watchmaking world
Van Cleef & Arpels’ exhibition, ‘Poetry of Time’, at South Kensington’s Cromwell Place gallery, traces the early days of the maison
By Hannah Silver Published
-
In Van Cleef & Arpels’ high jewellery, the archival meets the au courant
Van Cleef & Arpels pays tribute to its rich heritage with a captivating high jewellery collection
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Emerging jewellery designers to get to know
These independent, new and emerging jewellery designers and brands from New York to Paris are firmly on our radar
By Hannah Silver Published
-
L’École Van Cleef & Arpels is school of hard rocks
L’École Van Cleef & Arpels recently opened the doors to its new jewellery school, exhibition space and bookstore in Paris, winning a Wallpaper* Design Award 2024
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Jewellery designers share their most precious personal pieces
A host of jewellers give us a peek at the jewellery which brings them joy and solace
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Van Cleef & Arpels brings the myths of the Black Forest to life in its high jewellery
The Grand Tour inspires the new Van Cleef & Arpels high jewellery collection
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Playing it cool: pearls are having a moment
We've been deep-diving into boutiques around the world to find the very best calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form. It seems jewellers have been busy rethinking pearls, with contemporary (and often affordable) results
By Hannah Silver Published