Van Cleef & Arpels is a French luxury jewelry, watch, and perfume house founded in 1906 by Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. The brand's first boutique opened at 22 Place Vendome, where it maintains its flagship location. Van Cleef & Arpels is a subsidiary of Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA.
The house is known for its distinctive craftsmanship techniques, particularly the Mystery Set (Serti Mysterieux) patented in 1933, in which gemstones are set with no visible prongs or metal, creating a seamless surface of color. Signature collections include the Alhambra (introduced in 1968, featuring the four-leaf clover motif), Perlee, Frivole, and the Zip necklace, which functions as both a necklace and a bracelet.
Van Cleef & Arpels produces high jewelry collections that often draw on themes of nature, fairy tales, and the cosmos. The brand operates L'Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels, a school of jewelry arts open to the public, with campuses in Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. In watchmaking, the house produces both jewelry watches and complicated timepieces, including poetic complications that display time through animated scenes.
The brand operates boutiques in major cities worldwide and sells through its own e-commerce platform. Fine jewelry prices begin at approximately $2,500 for Alhambra pieces and extend into the millions for high jewelry creations. Van Cleef & Arpels also produces a line of fragrances.