Couture diary: Life is a zip at Van Cleef & Arpels

With so many press and wealthy clients in Paris for the haute couture shows, many of the luxury jewelers in the Place Vendome are using the occasion to launch new collections. So off I went to Van Cleef & Arpels to see their new Zips. It was the Duchess of Windsor (the sometimes scandalous, always stylish legendary Wallis Simpson) who first suggested in 1938 that the house craft a zipper necklace in precious materials, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that technology caught up with the duchess’s imagination. By then, Wallis was over it. And though her character is seen wearing a Zip in The King’s Speech, the real duchess never did.

That hasn’t stopped this jewelry innovation from becoming an icon, and even though one piece might take up to 900 hours to make, as soon as one becomes available, it is snapped up for a private collection. The attraction? This is a real working zipper, each tooth hand-shaped in platinum or gold, and set with rubies, sapphires or diamonds. One style even converts into a bracelet.

This week, the house is unveiling four new takes on the Zip, all inspired by Art Deco geometry. Two creations have precious stones – emeralds in one, multi-coloured sapphires in the other. The other two styles mix lapis and mother-of-pearl, or turquoise and chrysoprase.

Enough, already. I am ready for a glass of bubbly followed by a casual Thai dinner. Tomorrow… Gaultier!

“Set in Style: The Jewellery of Van Cleef & Arpels”, an exhibit featuring 300 pieces from the Cleef & Arpels will be on at New York’s Cooper Hewitt Museum from Feb. 18 to June 6.

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