23,000 CHF
Varuna of New York Yacht Club. A. Van Cleef & Arpels, Joailliers, Paris, circa 1907. Very fine and very rare gold and enamel, jasper and ebony model of the yacht Varuna equipped with electrical contacts for a butler's bell. Notes Van Cleef & Arpels. The son of a diamond merchant who arrived in France in the mid 19th century, Charles Van Cleef settled in Paris. In 1898 his son Alfred set up shop as a goldsmith, and then married Estelle Arpels, the daughter of Léon Arpels, a dealer in precious stones. In 1906, Alfred Van Cleef and Charles Arpels founded a firm for "the creation and operation of a business dealing in precious stones and jewelry". They opened a shop at 22 Place Vendôme, and in a few months were so successful that they had to engage a salesman. At the same time as the expansion of the Place Vendôme, branches were opened in various different French seaside resorts. The company participated in numerous exhibitions, especially the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in 1925 where it won a Grand Prix. In 1926 Renée Puissant, daughter of Alfred Van Cleef, took up the position of artistic director in close collaboration with René Sim Lacaze, the unrivaled designer and creator, who worked with the firm from 1922 to 1939. In 1929 Van Cleef & Arpels opened in New York on the day of the Wall Street crash. From 1939, the firm grew successfully in the United States thanks to Louis, Julien, and his young son Claude. Claude and Jacques Arpels continued in the t
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-10-11
