Set in Style

Since its opening on the Place Vendome in 1906, the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels has played a leading role in setting style and design trends in luxury jewelry. Set in Style explores the historical significance of the firm's contributions to jewelry design in the 20th century. The book features more than 250 of Van Cleef & Arpels' most celebrated works from museum and private collections worldwide, including jewels, timepieces, fashion accessories and objets d'art and is published to accompany a major exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution, New York City, opening in February 2011. Six accessible essays accompanied by nearly 300 photographs, including previously unpublished design drawings from the Van Cleef & Arpels archives, examine the precious pieces through the lenses of innovation, transformation, nature, exoticism, fashion and celebrity. Among the objects illustrated are a tiara worn by Grace Kelly; Elizabeth Taylor's amethyst, coral and diamond bracelet and pendant earrings; a bracelet and necklace owned by Eva Peron; and the `Jarretiere' bracelet owned by Marlene Dietrich, worn in the film Stage Fright.