NEW YORK — Van Cleef & Arpels is readying some special polish for its 100th anniversary next year.
The Paris-based company is renovating stores, increasing categories such as watches and high jewelry, and focusing on what it prides itself on — quality of product and design.
“This is the year of the century for Van Cleef & Arpels,” said Stanislas de Quercize, who became president and chief executive officer of Van Cleef & Arpels International in September after heading up Cartier North America for three years. Compagnie Financière Richemont SA owns both Cartier and Van Cleef, which it acquired in 1996.
The celebration is already under way. Today marks the opening of Van Cleef’s renovated New York flagship, which has been at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue since 1949. The store, redesigned by Randall A. Ridless, has doubled its selling space to 1,610 square feet by moving its jewelry safes and offices to the basement.
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“You can’t have a store for 50 years and not have a [face-]lift,” said Nathalie Guedj, president and ceo of Van Cleef in the Americas. “The brand is strong in the U.S. and we needed more space.”
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The store is reminiscent of a Paris residence in the Thirties. The hexagonal atrium has walls covered in silver leaf and subtle dragonflies, butterflies and reeds. The high, vaulted ceiling and door moldings are trimmed in a tile pattern mimicking the “Mystery Setting,” the company’s signature technique in which multiple precious gemstones are set into metal without prongs.
Meeting rooms for clients are along the main hallway. More private rooms are in the back of the store, near where the watches and some high jewelry are positioned. Other jewelry is dispersed in cases throughout.
The mezzanine has an Estate Room reserved as a VIP area that overlooks the store. The room features a library of books containing vintage drawings of jewelry that the company has made. There are cream chenille sofas trimmed in black lacquer, a fireplace and cases of Van Cleef’s estate pieces, including a floral-themed amethyst and a gold and diamond zipper necklace that converts into a bracelet. Being able to convert jewelry, such as a pendant to a brooch or a necklace that can be worn in two ways, is a hallmark of the business.
The company also will overhaul its Paris flagship at 24 Place Vendôme for completion by the end of next year.
Van Cleef has six stores in the U.S., including units in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Bal Harbour, Fla., and Chicago, and 39 outposts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. All stores aside from the flagships have been renovated in the past three years.
The company also opened stores in Beijing and Moscow last month. Rounding out the mix are salons, or in-store shops, in the U.S., Caribbean and South America in 19 doors, such as London Jewelers in Manhasset, N.Y., and Dorfman Jewelers in Boston.
The retail presence isn’t the only thing Van Cleef has on tap for the centennial. The company is to launch its largest high-end jewelry collection to date, comprising 100 pieces that feature rare stones. Standout designs include a collar of Asscher-cut diamonds with a swag of impressive mandarin garnets, a wreath-like necklace of large aquamarines set in a garland of diamonds and a ruby ring flanked by butterflies made of marquise-cut diamonds.
“There is a big market for dressy jewelry in America because in Europe, there are much [fewer] black-tie events,” Guedj said. “The line is about femininity, softness, love, pleasure — not success and strength.”
In addition to the high jewelry, the company reintroduced the Alhambra watch at Salon International de la Haute Horologie in March to much success. De Quercize said the brand will launch many new timepiece styles at the next show.
Guedj joked that the owners at Richemont used to call the company the “Sleeping Beauty.” While Guedj said that it was once a perfect description, the moniker no longer applies.
In the past five years, Van Cleef has doubled the size of its business. Executives declined to reveal the volume, but industry sources estimated it to be about $150 million. De Quercize and Guedj said the estimate was low.
Guedj credited the surge in growth to a multitude of factors, including the print advertising campaign and the company’s accessibly priced day jewelry, such as its Alhambra design from 1975 with the clover motif and floral rings and earrings with pavé diamonds that range from about $800 to $30,000.
Guedj predicted 10 percent increases in sales for next year and a 15 percent increase for 2007.
De Quercize has said his goal is not to make Van Cleef the next Cartier, which has annual sales of about $600 million. He likened the recent strategy of Van Cleef to that of a fledgling wine connoisseur, where consumers apply themselves to learn the best and eventually stick with it.
“Look at wines, for example,” he said. “The first bottle of wine you taste is not the best, but soon you learn to buy the best one. The brands that offer the best quality grow the fastest and that is what we want.”