Van Cleef & Arpels ZIP collection

Iconic creation of the Parisian High Jewellery Maison, the Zip dazzles as brightly as ever, with four new necklaces to heighten its timeless elegance.
The Zip fastener, invented for the clothing worn by sailors and pilots, has been the inspiration for one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ most famous
creations, the Zip necklace. For Haute Couture Week 2011, the Maison is presenting stunning new interpretations of this classic piece of High
Jewellery. All the delicacy of Van Cleef & Arpels’ expertise is represented in these four new necklaces. Their refined geometrical shapes and the harmonious marriage of precious, fine and hard stones gives them a rare elegance and femininity.

With a blend of humour and refinement, the Zip Necklace delights in the art of diversion. The suggestion to create a jewel based on this piece of technical magic was made by the Duchess of Windsor to the Artistic Director of Van Cleef & Arpels, Renée Puissant, the daughter of Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef, who founded the Maison in 1906. Renée decided to «divert» the design codes of the zip fastener.

So an invention that was intended to close and discreetly hide away became a necklace that openly displayed its delicacy and refinement to the whole world.
The first Van Cleef & Arpels Zip necklace, introduced in the 1950s, was a sensation, a genuine artistic and technical triumph. Worn open as a necklace or zipped up into a bracelet, it captures the astonishing expertise of the Maison in the Place Vendôme.

A genuine piece of High Jewellery, the Zip consists of two gold ribbons bordered with tiny hooks that fit into one another. The extreme precision of the gem-setting highlights the purity of the stones while the articulation technique gives the Zip an extraordinary flexibility, and allows the mechanism to function perfectly. As if by magic, the Zip opens and closes as the elegant diamond set tassel moves the slider up and down.
An authentic icon of the Maison, the Zip necklace is the link between the worlds of High Jewellery and Couture. Gold and precious stones are moulded like fabric in the hands of a dressmaker, demonstrating the virtuosity of the Maison’s artists. The Zip necklace changes shape and transforms itself to become part of the mood and clothing of today’s beautiful women.
As its history shows, the Zip necklace expresses one of the founding creative principles of the Maison. The Antique Zip reproduces the original model in yellow gold and diamonds. In the Couture 2005 collection, it is set with ribbons of rubies, emeralds or sapphires, and worn as a long necklace to embellish a décolleté or a bare back. A precious tassel enlivens the slider in the Zip Pompon version. In 2006, as part of the celebrations in the city of its birth, the Maison unveiled a design in white gold and diamonds as part of their collection, Une Journée à Paris.

In 2011, four new models complete the luxurious palette of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Zip necklaces. With daring inventiveness, a brinck structure is dressed by dazzling coloured stones in geometric shapes inspired by Art Deco. Two of these new creations are set with precious stones: emeralds in one and multicoloured sapphires in the other. In the second pair of necklaces, one Zip shows a harmonious marriage of lapis lazuli, white mother-of-pearl and cultured pearls, whilst the other brings together turquoise and chrysoprase.Extreme care has been lavished on these pieces to ensure that, both as necklace and bracelet, they mould themselves to the fluidity of feminine movement. They
arry with them all the history and expertise of the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels.