Results matching “van cleef”

In the same collection as Le Pont des Amoureaux and their increasing stable of interesting complications, Van Cleef(previously mentioned) has released their most ambitious complication to date, the Complication Poétique Midnight Planétarium. Within a 44mm case of 18kt gold, set with diamonds if you prefer, is a miniature planetarium showing the position and motion of the 6 inner planets, all represented in semi-precious stones. The complication is based on a Roger Dubuis (previously mentioned) caliber, and was designed by the master of astronomical complications, Christiaan van der Klaauw. Price is not published, but it's a limited edition of 396 if that affects your decision.

Their promotional video is a bit all over the place, without anything on this actual watch, but fun none-the-less.

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VC&A (you know them well) have another in their line of jeweled, lightly complicated, ladies watches, the Poetic Complications; from the Fairy in 1997 to the Lovers' Bridge in 2010. Starting with the Retrograde mechanism from their Fairy watch, the Enchanted Ballerina adds to it a mechanism classically known as "le Bras en l'Air"(see previous) and was just announced this January. In the Fairy, the two hands rose, hours on one side, minutes on the other, and then dropped back after each "revolution", always indicating the time. In the Enchanted Ballerina, the two hands, the sides of her tutu, stay down until the button on the left is pressed, whereupon they jump up to indicate the time and transform her into a "butterfly". Or at least that's the theory, so they can use a quote from Anna Pavlova, pre-dessert, in the PR materials "J'ai rêvé que j'étais une ballerine, et que je passais toute ma vie à danser avec la légèreté d'un papillon..." (I've been dreaming that I was a ballerina, and that I was spending my whole life dancing as lightly as a butterfly...)

As usual, the movement is a Agenhor module on a JLC base, with some fantascially shaped bridges and wheels, the Agenhor signature. The case is 40.5mm in white gold the hands are champleve enamel and the dial is transluscent enamel over guilloche.

Movement
Hands at Rest	Hands Telling Time (11:05)

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I'm not sure why, but the New York Times Magazine Blog decided we needed a selection of Emerald rings.

Stephen Russell	Aspry
Kwait	Fred Leighton (see previous)
Solange Azagury-Partridge (previously mentioned), $18,200	Graff (previously mentioned) 22.93-carat emerald cushion cabochon ring
Ralph Lauren fine jewelry ring, $5,100	Van Cleef & Arpels (just search for them) ring with 15-carat carved emerald, circa 1962

The background for all the pictures is Shagreen (see previous), which apparently Ralph Lauren sells at $166 a yard as wall-covering.
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Starting on December 13th, Christies will be auctioning off Elizabeth Taylor's collection of jewelry with proceeds to benefit her AIDS charity ETAF. The preview show has started and is making its way around the world before coming to rest for the sale in New York which means that photos of the pieces have started trickling out. I'll start with just the previewed necklaces.

First a pair of shots of an emerald and diamond necklace by Bulgari originally given to Taylor by Richard Burton

REUTERS/Fred Prouser	AP Photo/Richard Drew

More Necklaces

Sapphire and diamond necklace by Mouaward with matching earrings AP Photo/Misha Japaridze	A gold and ivory necklace which was a gift from the estate of Edith Head. The Ivory disks are 19th and 18th century opera passes. AP Photo/Richard Drew
One of a suite of Kunzite, amethyst and diamond "Triphanes" jewelry by Van Cleef & Arpels. It is estimated at $70,000 - $100,000. AP Photo/Richard Drew	"The Taj Mahal Diamond," (c. 1627), on a gold and ruby chain by Cartier, was a gift from Richard Burton for her 40th birthday in 1972. The central diamond is engraved with the words "Love is Everlasting" in Parsee. It is estimated at $300,000 - $500,000. AP Photo/Richard Drew
A ruby, diamond and pearl necklace by Cartier with the La Peregrina 60-carat natural pearl pendant The necklace is expected to bring $3 million at auction. REUTERS/Fred Prouser	The so-called "Grandmother's Necklace", with matching earrings, by Van Cleef and Arpels in front of a Warhol "Liz Taylor" screen-print (not owned by Ms Taylor). The necklace and earring set were a present from Richard Burton to commemorate the birth of Taylor's first grandchild. AP Photo/Misha Japaridze

(source note that that page is a nightmare of ads and javascript pain, and the second image in the slideshow is Hank Williams Jr.)
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Since I posted some pictures of these earlier, I figured I'd follow up with the prices realized:
Lot 6: Breguet - €120,000
Lot 13: De Bethune - €80,000
Lot 23: Ikepod - €23,000
Lot 28: MB&F - €170,000
Lot 37: Vacheron Constantin - €90,000
Lot 38: Van Cleef and Arpels - €215,000
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The VC&A piece isn't one I'd found good pictures of before, but it is an amusing piece. The name is "From the Earth to the Moon" and it is a variant of their double-retrograde movement, with the hours on the left side and the minutes on the right.  The dial is a whimsical space scene, with the earth crossing off the edge of the dial at the bottom right and the moon, it really looks more like Jupiter, at the top.  Both planets are champleve enamel and the indicator for the minutes is the space-ship, so it completes the journey once an hour.   The black dial is a polished black jade with a small agate in the middle to represent a planet in the distance. 

From Feb 18th until July 4th (sorry, you've probably missed it)the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (the NYC branch of the Smithsonian Institute) has had a large exhibit of jewelry by Van Cleef and Arpels (previously mentioned) entitled Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels. As I've tried once before, this will be a review of the exhibition which I was able to attend last weekend.

First of all, the collected works are fantastic, from the coronation jewels of Princess Grace through the many pieces commissioned by the Duchess of Wales to their current works, a massive cross-section of VC&A's work was on display, probably more then in any one place before. The exhibit itself was separated into 6 areas, each with a theme, a more sensible way to organize the jewels then by date or by material. The themes were somewhat vague to cover all the pieces, but useful conceptually: Inovation, Transformation, Nature, Exoticism, Fashion and Personalities (a catch-all for pieces owned by famous customers). These tied into various associated displays, including a video of the mystery setting in the innovation room, pre-production sketches in the Transformation room and photos of celebrities in the Personalities room. The entire exhibit was labeled by number, everyone got a guide book on entering which provided all relevant information, a much better solution then what would have been an excessive number of captions for the displays.

The display of the jewels was not all that satisfactory. The pieces were mostly set as a long row on a table, which made for moderately good traffic flow, but the cases were problematic. Some were single cases with the all the pieces, but most were smaller domes with a few pieces. These, for some baffling reason, appeared to be blown glass and were rife with irregularities that distorted the view of the pieces. The guards were also very insistent that one could not lean or even place the guide on the tables, which made getting a close look an excise in careful balance. The occasional nose-print testified to failures. There were also some baffling displays, like the illusionary ones based on parabolic mirrors that caused the piece to appear to float at the table surface, but also dimmed and distorted it due to the poor condition of the mirrors. As has become common with this sort of exhibit, photography was prohibited.

I don't wish these complaints to give the impression that I didn't enjoy it a great deal, it would have been worth the trip by itself, but such small changes could have made it much more enjoyable.

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ps yes it is pathetic how overrun by spammers the website is, it looks like no care was taken to secure it at all, nor has anyone from the museum bothered to look at it since it was launched.

Since 1956 Van Cleef and Arpels (mentioned a bit before) have held the distinction of "Official Supplier to the Principality" of Monaco.  For the recent wedding of Prince Albert Princess Charlene, they created a convertible tiara->necklace with the theme "Ocean", in tribute to her past as an olympic swimmer.  It's primarily diamonds, including some pear-cut stones at about 4 ct, and several shades of Sapphire.



They've even put together a brief video explaining some of the design elements



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The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (that's the full name, don't wear it out) is hosting an exhibition of Van Cleef and Arpels jewelry, watches and other objects d'art from February 18 through June 5, 2011. 

Amoung the pieces on display are displays of dazzling technique, such as this gold box in semi-precious and precious stones from 1926(Left) and a Camargo broach, in platinum set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds from 1942 (Right).  For the simply dazzling, it's hard to beat a platinum and gold diadem, set with diamonds for Princess Grace, from 1976 (Below)

My favorite piece from the promotional pictures is this bell-push, set with an enameled gold and silver boat(1908). The body is ebony while the massive wave is carved from a single piece of jasper.

An interesting pair of broaches are also on display. One is recent, from 2004, a Japanese-inspired butterfly (Right). The wings are wood with Maki-e laquer, a Japanese technique for layering lacquer with gold dust, and the body is gold set with diamonds. The other is from 1971, a bird-shaped broach in gold carrying a 95ct briolette-cut fancy yellow diamond and set with sapphires and more diamonds. It was once owned by Ganna Walska

There are plenty more pieces in the exhibit that I may post later on
(Pictures from Paris Joaillerie, except the bird broach from the CH website)
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This diamond, sapphire and garnet elephant comes from another animal-themed collection by VC & A, the Voyages Extraordinaires (Extraordinary Voyages) This one was released in support of the Peace Park Foundation, specifically to raise funds for ranger stations for the Lumbobo park in Mozambique.  I particularly like the use of the contrasting princess (square) cut diamonds on the head of the elephant as contrast to the brilliant and oval shaped diamonds in the pavee.

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