Van Cleef & Arpels | Wearing the Scent of Jewels: A Maison Born of a Love Story

ヴァン クリーフ＆アーペルの世界観と代表製品「Santal Blanc」を表現したブランドイメージ

“Perfume and jewels are a woman’s two adornments. A dress is part of her wardrobe; shoes and bags are accessories. But you cannot call jewels ‘accessories.’ The same is true of perfume. To me, perfume is the final adornment.”

— Pierre Arpels (third generation of the Arpels family, Van Cleef & Arpels)

Basic Information

Founded: 1906
Founders: Alfred Van Cleef and Charles Arpels
Official website: https://www.vancleefarpels.com
A note on pronunciation: Van Cleef & Arpels is rendered in Japanese as “Van Kurīfu ando Āperu”; in English-speaking countries, the final name may also be pronounced “Arpels,” with the final s sounded.

The Founders and the Brand’s Origins

A Story of Jewels That Began with Love

The story of Van Cleef & Arpels begins with a marriage.

In 1895, in the heart of Paris, Estelle Arpels, a gem dealer’s daughter, married Alfred Van Cleef, the son of a stone cutter. Alfred’s father was a diamond cutter from the Netherlands, while Estelle’s family had traded in precious stones for generations. Their marriage brought together not only two people and two families, but also a shared passion for gems and a common set of values.

Place Vendôme and the Founding of the Maison

Eleven years after the wedding, in 1906, Alfred and his brother-in-law Charles Arpels opened their first boutique at 22 Place Vendôme, in the heart of an affluent Parisian district. Facing the Ritz Hotel, the location was known as part of “the most elegant square in Paris,” a gathering place for the French aristocracy and upper classes. Julien Arpels joined the business in 1908 and Louis Arpels in 1912, bringing the complementary roles of the Van Cleef and Arpels families fully into play.

The maison has never moved from 22 Place Vendôme since its founding. This is still celebrated as a symbol of the brand’s unchanging spirit.

An Era of Expansion and Technical Innovation

Within a few years of its founding, the maison expanded into resort destinations such as Monte Carlo, Nice, and Deauville, growing alongside the travels of its French upper-class clientele.

In 1926, Renée Puissant, the daughter of Alfred and Estelle, became the maison’s Artistic Director. Working with designer René Sim Lacaze, who had been closely involved with the house since 1923, she developed a succession of distinctive Van Cleef & Arpels designs. Lacaze is said to have translated Renée’s ideas into drawings, which she completed with handwritten annotations.

“René Sim Lacaze’s talent gave tangible form to Renée Puissant’s bold creativity. This complementary partnership forged the maison’s style and produced its most iconic creations.”

— Official Van Cleef & Arpels website

In 1933, the maison patented the distinctive gemstone-setting technique called the Mystery Setting, which would become synonymous with its name. Gemstones are normally held in place by visible prongs or mounts. The Mystery Setting instead uses tiny grooves and drawer-like frames to conceal the supporting structure, creating an ethereal brilliance as though the stones were floating in the air.

In 1999, the Swiss conglomerate Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. acquired a 60% stake, bringing the maison into its group, and it became a wholly owned subsidiary in 2003. Even after joining the group, which also includes Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, the maison has maintained its individuality and creativity.

Entering Perfumery and the Impact of First

The Revolution of a Jeweler Making Perfume

Van Cleef & Arpels entered the world of perfume in 1976. At the time, the idea of a jewelry brand releasing its own fragrance was unprecedented in the industry, and it is said to have encountered dismissive reactions that it would never sell.

Yet the maison was determined. Pierre Arpels, a member of the founding family, said:

“I dreamed of a perfume with an image like our jewelry: discreet, yet with a precious presence.”

— Pierre Arpels

First was born under the guiding principle that enhancing a woman’s beauty and charm was the magic of an invisible yet distinctive jewel.

The Encounter with Perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena

The fragrance was created by Jean-Claude Ellena, a perfumer from Grasse, the southern French town renowned as a center of perfumery. Ellena trained at Givaudan in Switzerland and moved to Lautier in Grasse in 1976. First was one of his major creations that year, alongside Sisley’s Eau de Campagne. Having helped pick jasmine in Grasse as a child and worked in fragrance production from a young age, he was also a true artisan of scent.

Pierre Arpels is said to have requested a perfume that smelled like a jewel and had the presence of a jewel. After several perfumers were invited to submit trials, Ellena’s composition was ultimately chosen.

The choice of the name First was deliberate, too. The English word is said to carry a double meaning: the jeweler’s first venture into perfume, and an intention to address an international market from the outset.

The Scent and Bottle of First

First belongs to the aldehydic floral category. Aldehydes are a type of synthetic fragrance ingredient that lends a scent a floating expansiveness and a slightly powdery, soft warmth.

  • Top notes: Aldehydes, hyacinth
  • Heart notes: Rose, carnation, jasmine, tuberose, iris
  • Base notes: Oakmoss, amber, sandalwood

The bottle design was even more symbolic. Its slender, refined silhouette evokes a jewelry pendant and its jump ring, a ring-shaped connector. The bottle’s shape is also said to have later inspired the maison’s iconic Valenciennes earrings, now known as Snowflake. The idea of enclosing a jewel-like fragrance in a vessel modeled on jewelry was already fully realized in this first creation.

First remains part of industry history as one of the earliest examples of a jewelry brand creating perfume.

The Brand’s Commitments

Bridging High Jewelry and Fine Perfumery

In the maison’s own words, the foundation of its perfumery is to bridge high jewelry and fine perfumery through creativity and poetic charm.

This philosophy is most clearly expressed in Collection Extraordinaire, discussed below. Its approach of treating rare natural materials like jewels and transforming their essential beauty and value into fragrance extends the craftsmanship the maison has cultivated in jewelry for at least a century.

Inspiration from Nature

Nature is one of the important themes running through Van Cleef & Arpels’ creative work. Roses, palm leaves, butterflies, lilac flowers, fairies, and ballerinas recur as motifs in its jewelry. Likewise, natural materials and scenes from nature provide starting points for its fragrances.

Attention to Bottles and Packaging

Van Cleef & Arpels perfume bottles are designed as jewels in their own right. The pendant-shaped First bottle, the fairy perched on the Féerie flacon, and the Oriens bottle reproducing the form of a tourmaline ring from the A Midsummer Night’s Dream jewelry collection all connect deeply with the maison’s jewelry design vocabulary.

By contrast, Collection Extraordinaire bottles are minimalist, elegant rectangular blocks of glass. Their simple forms quietly suggest that the fragrance itself is the star. The labels bear the serial number of the final formula, known only to the perfumer, a detail reminiscent of an artisan’s hallmark in jewelry.

The Fragrance Production Partner

Van Cleef & Arpels fragrances are manufactured and marketed under license by France’s Inter Parfums SA. The licensing agreement was signed in 2006 and began in January 2007; previously it had been held by YSL Beauté. A further nine-year extension was announced in 2024.

The Fragrance Range

Les Classiques: The Maison’s Heritage

Les Classiques brings together four of the maison’s representative creations from the 1970s through the 1990s. Respect for their origins is evident throughout, from retaining the original bottle colors to using typography from their respective eras on the labels.

First (1976)
As described above, this aldehydic floral was created by Jean-Claude Ellena. One of the early perfumes from a jewelry brand, it earned a place in industry history and was the first bottle to embody the maison’s fragrance philosophy.

Pour Homme (1978)
A leather chypre fragrance for men created by Louis Monnet. It opens with an accord of sage, basil, and rosemary, moves through a rose heart warmed by spices, and continues into a woody trail of patchouli and vetiver.

Gem (1987)
Created as a homage to gemstones themselves, this was the maison’s second fragrance for women. A floral chypre, it begins with the freshness of peach and bergamot, opens into a bouquet of iris, tuberose, and ylang-ylang, and finishes with the depth of vanilla, amber, and oakmoss.

Tsar (1989)
A woody aromatic men’s fragrance created by Philippe Bousseton. Fresh citrus bergamot leads into a complex heart layering rosemary, thyme, lavender, and spices, followed by an elegant trail of amber, vetiver, and sandalwood.

Collection Extraordinaire: The Contemporary Flagship Collection

Launched in 2009, Collection Extraordinaire forms the core of Van Cleef & Arpels’ contemporary fragrance offering.

“This collection embodies Van Cleef & Arpels’ quest for emotion since its founding. It pays tribute to the noble materials used in perfumery, revering them like jewels and drawing out their beauty.”

— Official Van Cleef & Arpels website

The collection is distinguished by placing one natural material at the center of each fragrance and exploring it in depth. Moonlight Patchouli focuses on patchouli, Néroli Amara on neroli, or orange blossom, and Santal Blanc on sandalwood. In this way, the many facets of a material are concentrated within a single perfume.

The confirmed current range includes the following:

  • Moonlight Patchouli: A floral, leathery chypre. Patchouli is layered with delicate rose and iris and the warmth of suede.
  • Néroli Amara: A green floral. The fresh, invigorating scent of neroli, the flower of the bitter orange tree.
  • Ambre Impérial: A spicy amber. Bergamot, cinnamon, amber, and tonka bean create a majestic trail.
  • Santal Blanc: A floral woody musk. Fig milk and sandalwood intertwine softly.
  • Gardénia Pétale: A floral fragrance.
  • Orchid Leather: A leather chypre. Spices, frankincense, and vetiver intertwine with a plant-derived leather accord of labdanum and vanilla.
  • California Rêverie: A floral fragrance. Neroli, jasmine, and frangipani express California’s sunny spirit.
  • Precious Oud: An amber floral. Oud and sandalwood form its core.
  • Encens Précieux (2024): A woody amber. Centered on frankincense, it weaves black pepper, myrrh, and leather into a complex smoky scent.

Several perfumers have worked on the collection, with professionals from the two major fragrance companies Givaudan and Symrise creating its individual fragrances.

An Interesting Aside…

The Ripple Effect of First: According to the fragrance trade press of the time, Van Cleef & Arpels’ entry into perfumery with First in 1976 was followed by other jewelry houses, including Cartier, Boucheron, and Mauboussin, entering the market. It could be said that a perfume culture among luxury jewelers flourished beyond the door Van Cleef & Arpels had opened.

Ties with Japan: The maison was also a pioneer in entering Japan and is regarded as one of the first French jewelry brands to open stores in Japan and China. In Japan, it began selling through Seibu Department Stores in 1973, then opened its first directly operated boutique in Ginza in 1999. In March 2025, its first dedicated fragrance corner shop in Japan opened on the second floor of Takashimaya Shinjuku.

Alhambra and Jacques Arpels: The attachment to luck that also resonates with the concept of Collection Extraordinaire appears in a saying favored by Jacques Arpels, the founding couple’s nephew. He regularly picked four-leaf clovers in the garden to give to employees and insisted that one must believe in luck to attract it. That belief gave rise to the iconic Alhambra collection in 1968. The pursuit of good fortune embodied in the fragrances is not unrelated to these family traditions.

References