Van Cleef & Arpels Treasures and Legends /anglais - Tapa dura

Vincent Meylan has recently authored a new book on Van Cleef & Arpels and while the firm has been releasing forgettable PR-driven coffee-table books at a steady clip over the last few years, this one is decidedly more scholarly than some of the others. Golconda I have to say my collection of sparkly paste looked rather dull after tearing myself away from the entirely different world I found in this book. September/October 2014 He opens the doors and unlocks the caskets to reveal the mysterious and sometimes fantastic, stories of its clients and the fabulous and exceptional stones that they entrusted to the "golden hands" of Van Cleef & Arpels. The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles, December 2014

From Empress Farah and the secrets of the treasure of Iran, to Queen Marie Amelie's missing emeralds, via Fantomas and the blood-red rubies of the kings of Burma, entering the world of Van Cleef & Arpels is like embarking upon a fascinating treasure hunt. In this book, Vincent Meylan explores a century in the history of one of the most prestigious Parisian jewellery dynasties. He opens doors and unlocks caskets to reveal the mysterious, and sometimes fantastic, stories of its clients and the fabulous and exceptional stones that they entrusted to the "golden hands" of Van Cleef & Arpels. The Maharani of Baroda, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Lilian of Belgium, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Grace of Monaco, Maria Callas, Barbara Hutton and the Countess of Camargo: they are all the heroines of this incredible epic full of rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. Van Cleef & Arpels: Treasures and Legends is full of extravagant fairytales and fascinating behind-the-scenes revelations. It also tells the sometimes troubled story of a dynasty of jewellers, of gifted men and women who have, for over a century, helped to shape that inimitably Parisian art de vivre that is the envy of the world.