Since its opening on the Place Vendôme 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 Six accessible essays accompanied by nearly 300 photographs, including previously unpublished design drawings from the Van Cleef & Arpels archives, examine the precious pieces through the lenses of innovation, transformation, nature, exoticism, fashion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 Jarretière bracelet owned by Marlene Dietrich, worn in the film Stage Fright.
