Jewellery houses
A design-history index focused on identifiable vocabularies, technical developments, and the evidence behind attribution.
Van Cleef & Arpels
A Paris maison associated with transformable jewels, the Mystery Set, and a lyrical natural vocabulary.
The house emerged from the partnership of the Arpels family and Alfred Van Cleef. Its history is read through patents, signed objects, archival drawings, exhibition records, and recurring forms including ballerinas, zip necklaces, and invisibly set flowers.
- Founded
- 1906
- Historic address
- 22 Place Vendôme, Paris
- Known technique
- Mystery Set
Verdura
New York jewellery shaped by Fulco di Verdura's heraldic, natural, and art-historical references.
Fulco di Verdura opened his Fifth Avenue salon after formative work with Coco Chanel and Hollywood clients. Bold scale, mixed coloured stones, rope motifs, shells, and motifs adapted from Renaissance and Baroque art form a recognisable but varied vocabulary.
- Founded
- 1939
- Founder
- Duke Fulco di Verdura
- Base
- New York
Cartier
A house whose archive spans garland style, geometric modernism, global references, and precision mechanisms.
Cartier's long history resists reduction to one style. Belle Époque platinum lacework, Art Deco geometry, mystery clocks, panthers, and Indian-inspired colour each belong to particular moments, makers, patrons, and cultural contexts.
- Founded
- 1847
- Founder
- Louis-François Cartier
- Historic Paris address
- 13 Rue de la Paix