Behind the scenes of a fine jewelry house in Place Vendome

It takes numerous hours to create exceptional jewellery like the Zip.

Place Vendome, in the heart of Paris, is known the world over for being the beating heart of fine jewelry. In an architectural fashion, the most prestigious names in watchmaking and fine jewelry have their showcase here. Among them, the famous Van Cleef & Arpels house stands out, famous for incarnating French savoir-faire though mythical creations.

Around the famous column, the private hotels of the Place Vendome are a symbol of classic French urbanism. Their façades hewn in cut stone, classified as historical monuments, are known worldwide.
During the 19th century, in parallel with the opening of the prestigious palace, The Ritz, the biggest names in jewelry established their addresses here.

Love for the stones, unique savoir faire and technical prowess

The jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels was one of the first to establish themselves here, in site number 22. For more than a century, The Van Cleef & Arpels House has mixed love for precious stones, unique savoir-faire, and technical prowess. In the workshop, lapidaries, setters and jewelers work the most precious stones and metals.

It requires countless hours of work by hand to create such extraordinary masterpieces as the Zip. Van Cleef & Arpels is also considered a master of the field thanks to the development of the Serti Mysterious technique, a method of assembling the stones without any apparent metal claws.

A school open to all passionate, to discover the backstage of French excellence.

Their total savoir-faire (patented by the house in 1933) is mastered only by a few jewelers. In a desire to share the knowledge of fine jewelry, however, Van Cleef & Arpels has created a school of Jewelery Arts, open to all enthusiasts as a way for fans to discover the backstage of French excellence.

Van Cleef & Arpels 

Place Vendôme in Paris