Jacques Arpels (1914-2008) was a member of the second generation of the Arpels family at Van Cleef & Arpels and, with his cousins Claude and Pierre Arpels, the figure most responsible for shaping the firm's identity during the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of the Mystery Set technique to volume production, the development of the fairy and ballerina jewel motifs into a coherent house signature and the consolidation of the New York retail operation are the principal commercial and creative outputs associated with his tenure.

Family and early career

Jacques was the son of Julien Arpels, one of the three Arpels brothers (Salomon, Charles and Julien) who had founded Van Cleef & Arpels with their brother-in-law Alfred Van Cleef at 22 Place Vendôme, Paris, in 1906. Born in 1914, Jacques entered the family business in the 1930s and worked through the difficult years of the Second World War, during which the family relocated parts of the New York operation to safety in the United States. The post-war re-establishment of Place Vendôme activity and the rapid expansion into the United States retail market through the late 1940s and 1950s formed the early part of his managerial career.

Creative direction

Jacques Arpels worked closely with the design director Maurice Duvalet and later with the in-house design studio under Pierre Arpels and René Sim Lacaze. The Mystery Set, patented by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1933, was developed during the 1950s and 1960s into a wider production range covering ruby, sapphire and emerald work; Jacques's role in the commercial commitment to the technique is generally credited as decisive. The fairy and ballerina pendant and brooch motifs, drawn from the firm's longstanding relationship with the Paris Opéra ballet, were developed during the same period and remain core house references.

The Daisy collection and writings

Jacques Arpels was personally identified with the daisy motif, which he developed from the 1960s as a recurring house signature, and with a distinctive practice of including small handwritten cards in the jewel boxes given to clients carrying short reflective texts. The cards, often quoting an excerpt from Maurice Maeterlinck or a personal aphorism, became part of the Van Cleef & Arpels client experience. He was the author of several short publications on jewellery and on the history of the family firm.

Position in the house

By the time of the partial sale of Van Cleef & Arpels to the Richemont group in 1999 (full acquisition completed in 2003), Jacques Arpels had stepped back from active management. He continued to be present at the firm's major events and to advise on creative direction until his death in 2008. The Van Cleef & Arpels archive at the Place Vendôme head office and the L'École, School of Jewelry Arts (founded by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2012) preserve his correspondence and design documentation.