In 1896, Esther Arpels, daughter of a precious stone merchant, married Alfred Van Cleef, a descendant of a family that sold yarn. That same year, Alfred Van Cleef brothers in law, Julien, Louis and Charles Arpels, founded together a company that had for objective "the creation and enhancement of watches and clocks." In 1906 they deposited the brand name "Van Cleef & Arpels' and opened a boutique at 22 Place Vendôme. Alfred Van Cleef died in 1938, leaving a daughter, known as Renée Puissant. Between 1909 and 1939, Van Cleef & Arpels opened some boutiquesin some well-known resort localities: Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo. In 1939, some Arpels family members flee to America and opened a boutique in New York in 1942, on Fifth Avenue boutique which is still active today. The company will be the first high jewelry French maison to land in Japan in 1974, and then in China in 1994. In 1999 it was bought by Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. Very often, the pieces were designed and produced on request by very influent worldwide people; the Empress of Iran, royal and imperial dynasties, and industrial and financial magnates. The achieved fame as the greatest jewelry existing Maison allowed VCA to expand its presence in Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle East.
The prestige of the Maison, as well as the beautiful creations, is also given by the Serti Mystérieux, special setting technique in which the precious stones firmly place to hide every casing. This technique was invented by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1933, and has continuously been improved until the recording of the last patent, which relates to diamonds, dated 1990.
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