Van Cleef and Arpels were seen at this year's Oscars.  In fact, their diamonds were seen at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, too.  Grace Kelly draped herself in it.  Marlene Dietrich wore it.  So did Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Scarlett Johansson, and Sofia Coppola.

The luxe diamond company is one of the most well known in the luxury jeweler business.  And it's also one of the oldest.

So it's no surprise that an exhibition on the diamond jewelry designs of Van Cleef & Arpels has opened at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.  The exhibition is called Set in Style: The Jewellery of Van Cleef & Arpels.  Its displays 350 different kinds of work, including million dollars of diamond jewelry, accessories, objets d'art created especially for the American market, design drawing from Van Cleef & Arpels archives, and rare designs grabbed from private collections. Timeless pieces from Old Hollywood stars like Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor are featured. Diamond tiaras worn by European royalty and a diamond-studded zipper necklace are displayed prominently.

The exhibition examines 6 key theme that make up the high-end jewelry brand including innovation, transformation, nature as inspiration, exoticism, fashion and personalities.

The exhibition will examine the work through the lenses of innovation, transformation, nature as inspiration, exoticism, fashion and personalities, and will include design drawings from the Van Cleef and Arpels archives.

Van Cleef and Arpels is a French jewelry company (they also do watches, accessories, and perfume) that was founded in 1896 by Salomon Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef.  Still, they only opened their first boutique in Paris in 1906. They are known for their expertise in precious stones and an innovative gem-setting procedure called the Mystery Setting. 

Their most recent launch has been the new high jewelry collection during the Biennale des Antiquaires called Les Voyages Extraodinaires de Jules Verne. This occurred in 2010.

The exhibition will run at the museum until June 5, 2011.

 

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