Legendary Beauty

BAZAAR speaks to Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, about the Maison’s traditions, elegant pieces and continual pursuit for innovation.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel
BAZAAR speaks to Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, about the Maison’s traditions, elegant pieces and continual pursuit for innovation.
Rose gold, mother-of-pearl, carnelian and diamond Bouton d’or pendant
Rose gold, mother-of-pearl, carnelian and diamond Bouton d’or pendant
What is a highlight for Van Cleef & Arpels this year?

The Maison has been faithful to its DNA with pieces inspired by nature and couture. The “Paillette” motif was launched in the ’30s, so it is a bit more abstract and might not be as well-known. Inspired by the couture theme, the idea for this new collection was to create a graphic and feminine line by associating it with bold materials.

The movement of the pieces is like very fluid fabric; and the paillette was inspired by the button shape, which gave its name to the collection—Bouton d’or. The Maison has a rich heritage and we have the desire to highlight this, but reinterpret it in a contemporary way, so I would consider the Bouton d’or between high jewellery and daywear bijoux.

gold, onyx, chrysoprase and diamond Bouton d’or necklace
gold, onyx, chrysoprase and diamond Bouton d’or necklace
What’s your favourite piece from this year’s collection?

As a high jewel ler from 1906, our 2016 creations give pride of place to jewels that tell the time, and this is embodied with the Rubis Secret watch. In the early 20th century, it wasn’t considered elegant for a lady to look at the time, so jewellers tried to work around that.

For example, by creating a secret compartment in a minaudière, or under a petal of a flower of a bracelet. In that sense, what was most fun for the playful jewellery was hiding its function; to make it a secret. [For the Rubis], it took us almost a decade to gather the perfect batch of 150 rubies.

To see the stones come together, it’s like Aladdin entering the cave of treasure! It is a technical challenge as well to set the stones, which are all in different sizes; to have that continuous line, and we developed a secure hinge that completely disappears when you wear the bracelet.

white gold, ruby and diamond Rubis Secret watch
white gold, ruby and diamond Rubis Secret watch
The Lady Arpels Ronde des Papillons watch is clearly the star of the Poetic Complications ladies collection launched at SIHH2016. Can you tell us more about it?

This timepiece perfectly embodies Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetry of Time, where creativity meets technique. Beneath the apparent delicacy of the dial, the retrograde jumping hour, variable speed minutes and animation-ondemand movement developed exclusively for the watch, are highly sophisticated.

There is even a patent pending on the animation mode. In keeping with the Maison’s retrograde displays, the hours are indicated by the swallow—the tip of whose wings point at each hour marker before returning to its initial position. The dial can come to life on demand via an animation of some 10 seconds.

white gold, mother-of-pearl and diamond Lady Arpels Ronde des Papillons watch, Van Cleef & Arpels
white gold, mother-of-pearl and diamond Lady Arpels Ronde des Papillons watch, Van Cleef & Arpels
Is the Asian consumer different from those in other parts of the world?

I believe the relationship with jewellery is universal: Intimate and personal. There are inspirations and symbols that resonate across all cultures—motifs we work with, such as flowers and butterflies from nature; the idea of movement and lightness, like ballet, dreams; and mystical elements such as fairies and lucky charms.

We try to make them as universal and easy to access as possible, so they resonate with different cultures and lifestyles. It is quite interesting to see the same piece of jewellery worn different ways—on a kimono in Kyoto and in Texas on a modern evening gown.