Van Cleef & Arpels: The Poetry of Time

"Happiness is reinvented each day" - Van Cleef & Arpels.

Luxury brands presenting showcases of the skills and artistry of their craftsmen and designers appears to have been a bit of thing of late. The latest is this exhibition Van Cleef & Arpels: The Poetry of Time immaculately presented at the recently established Cromwell Place art hub in South Kensington. I was very fortunate to be able to book myself a time slot for its brief run. Founded at Paris's 22 Place Vendôme in 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels came into being following Estelle Arpels' marriage to Alfred Van Cleef in 1895. Over the decades, the excellence of the High Jewellery Maison firmly established its reputation across the world. Today, the house remains faithful to its highly distinctive style producing jewellery or timepieces inspired by nature, romance, or the ballet. Precedents had been set with the exhibition Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution which featured luxury Fabergé's jewels and some of their much celebrated jewelled eggs at the V&A museum just around the corner from Cromwell place in 2022. There was also the exhibition Vision & Virtuosity by Tiffany also in 2022 at the Saatchi Gallery which showcased Tiffany's 150 year old history in London. Van Cleef & Arpels: The Poetry of Time though is a much smaller, more intimate affair that explains the history of the brand through a timeline, before you then descend the stairs to a slightly cramped space to experience the impressive skills of the Van Cleef & Arpels artisans. They have transformed the lower galleries into an impressively scenic enchanted forest inhabited by an array of stylised flora and fauna. This is reflected in many of the luxury products which are themed around nature and insects such as butterflies, fairies and ballerinas, and the zodiac constellations as well as the eternal theme of love. Some of the cases display original hand drawn designs for the bejewelled objects and a plethora of the brands exquisite jewellery and timepieces made from precious stones including diamonds, emeralds and lapis lazuli, and painstaking techniques such as champlevé, grisaille, and plique-à-jour enamelling. Whilst I was there, there was a guided tour explaining the significance of certain historical and newer key pieces for the brand which really pleased the groups of visitors who oohed and aahed with delight especially at the sight of the mechanical objects when set in motion. Although small in scale I enjoyed the experience as it afforded the normal viewing public a rare opportunity to view up close Van Cleef & Arpels' vision of craftsmanship and luxury. 

Van Cleef & Arpels: The Poetry of Time

until 9th June

4 Cromwell Place

London

SW7