Art Deco Innovation: Exploring the Iconic Van Cleef & Arpels Mystery Setting

To the eye, it appears as if each jewel is composed of a mosaic of uninterrupted gemstones alone. Inspired by ancient Roman mosaics, the craftsmen at Van Cleef & Arpels understood the visual power of a design made up of many tiny tesserae. Using the principle of uniting many miniature pieces to create a coherent whole, they applied it not to stone or glass, but to gems of the highest calibre.

To ensure a continuous flow of colour, every stone selected for Mystery Setting at Van Cleef & Arpels is matched not only in cut and clarity but also in hue, saturation and tone. Calibrated to perfection, the stones are then delicately slid into grooves cut into a fine network of gold rails, each thinner than a human hair, rendering the metal completely invisible.

The result is a creation of such complexity that it can take over 90 hours to complete a single ring and 300 hours or more for larger pieces such as brooches. It’s no wonder that only a handful of Mystery Set pieces are produced each year.

A Legacy Born in the Art Deco Era

A bold innovation fusing beauty with precision, the Mystery Setting was more than an aesthetic flourish—it embodied the spirit of Art Deco. The early 1930s was a transformative period for jewellery design. In a time when machine-age modernity met design exuberance, Van Cleef & Arpels emerged as a leader of the movement, with Paris as its stage.

Three years after the 1933 patent, the Maison introduced an improved version of the Mystery Setting that incorporated tiny incisions on all four sides of each stone. Allowing the gems to be placed in complex curved lines for the first time, it ushered in a new era of Mystery Set jewels displaying volume. 

One of the first pieces to showcase this updated technique was the Ludo bracelet, named after Louis Arpels, one of the founders of Van Cleef & Arpels, who was fondly known as “Ludo” by friends. Its fabric-like flexibility, accompanied by Mystery Set rubies, epitomised the forward-thinking aesthetic of the Art Deco movement.

Other masterworks of the time included the Chrysanthemum clip brooch, created in 1937. The flower’s distinctive petals, which arch inwards, are Mystery Set with rubies, while their undersides are paved in calibrated diamonds. A superlative example of the Mystery Setting, the brooch occupied a prime position in Van Cleef & Arpels’ showcase at the Exposition Internationale in Paris later that year. 

High Jewellery Mastery, Now and Then

While rooted in the years between the two World Wars, the Van Cleef & Arpels Mystery Setting remains a symbol of excellence in haute joaillerie, as relevant in the 21st century as it was in the salons of 1930s Paris. A hallmark of technical mastery, it has become a signature flourish in nearly every new high jewellery collection unveiled by the Maison in recent years. 

In 2024’s Treasure Island, Van Cleef & Arpels’ most ambitious high jewellery collection to date, the technique transforms brooches, bracelets and necklaces into shimmering seascapes. Waves ripple, shells glisten, and palm trees sway, all conjured in Mystery Set emeralds, rubies and sapphires.

Inspired by the 910-carat Lesotho Legend, an exceptional rough diamond discovered in 2018, the Maison launched the Legend of Diamonds high jewellery collection during Paris Couture Week in July 2022. Comprising 25 Mystery Set jewels, all set with diamonds cut from the Lesotho Legend, it remains the biggest showcase yet of Van Cleef & Arpels’ proprietary gem-setting technique yet, with highlights including the Chevron Mystérieux necklace with detachable pendants.   

Famous Owners of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Mystery Set Jewels

With its avant-garde aesthetic, the Mystery Setting caught the eye of some of the 20th century’s most celebrated tastemakers. In 1936, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, famously received a Van Cleef & Arpels holly leaves brooch as a Christmas gift from King Edward VII. The double-feathered design featured Mystery Set rubies on one side with rubies and baguette cut diamonds on the other. 

In the 1980s, Elizabeth Taylor, the queen of statement jewellery, acquired a pair of teardrop Mystery Set sapphire and diamond earrings. When they went under the hammer in 2011 as part of The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor at Christie’s New York, they sold for $338,000, more than doubling their estimate. 

From the Peony clip from 1937, which formerly belonged to HRH Princess Faiza of Egypt and is now held in the Van Cleef & Arpels Collection, to Grace Kelly’s Marguerite clip, created in 1956, the Mystery Setting has left an indelible mark on the history of high jewellery.

A Modern Mystery

What makes the Mystery Setting so enduring is, paradoxically, what cannot be seen. It is a reminder that true luxury lies not only in what meets the eye, but in the invisible expertise behind it—the craftsmanship, the hours spent refining the technique and the skill and artistry hidden beneath the surface.

As we mark 100 years since the birth of Art Deco at Katerina Perez with a series of articles devoted to this pivotal period in jewellery design, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Mystery Setting remains one of its most glittering legacies.