ADVERTISEMENT
When you think about Van Cleef & Arpels, what do you think of? The Alhambra necklaces and earrings? The experimental poetic complications watches? If your answer to either of these was "yes," then I invite you to take a closer look at the Cadenas (or "Padlock") wristwatch. What started out as a simple appreciation for a cool vintage ladies' watch turned into a deep interest in the heritage and success of the haute joallerie maison Van Cleef & Arpels and the research led me to some pretty interesting places.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Little Bit About Van Cleef & Arpels
This story starts way back in 1898, when a woman named Estelle Arpels married a man named Alfred Van Cleef. Both Van Cleef and Arpels came from families with an interest in the gemstone business. Van Cleef's father, Charles, was a gemstone cutter in Amsterdam before he moved to Paris and had Alfred in 1873. Estelle Arpels was the daughter of Léon Arpels, who was a prominent precious stone dealer in his own right.
Shortly after getting married, Estelle, Alfred, and Estelle's brother Charles set up a diamond-dealing business in a second floor office at 34 Rue Drouot in Paris. The business grew quickly and the company moved to 22 Place Vendome soon after in 1906, where the boutique still resides today. Estelle's other brothers Julien and Louis joined the company in 1908 and 1912, respectively. What started out as a modest four-person diamond-dealing business grew into a full-on 14-person luxury jewelry house by 1912.
Van Cleef & Arpels continued its expansion by following wealthy clients to their summer homes in Dinard, Nice, Deauville, and Vichy, opening smaller boutiques in each of those locations. Van Cleef & Arpels soon became one of the most prominent and desirable brands amongst the world's elite. Something to remember was that in the early 1900s Paris was in its heyday. It was undisputedly the world capital of culture. Women of a certain social standing used to have their garments made exclusively in Paris, regardless of where they were from and where they resided. The world's upper crust flocked to Paris to be part of the thriving social and arts scenes. VCA's jewelry is a reflection of that time.
In addition to being one of the most prestigious jewelers in Paris, Van Cleef & Arpels was also known for pushing boundaries. In the 1920s, an annual sale (gasp!) was introduced from December 10-31, where each piece was cataloged and sold at a highly-discounted price, much to the dismay of the competitors. Additionally, VCA continued to create unusual and special pieces of jewelry with unique techniques such as serti invisible, which was patented in 1933 (patent no. 764,966, in case you were curious). This technique allowed for stones to be set seamlessly and without metal prongs so it appeared as if the stones were held together by nothing. This technique really elevated the Van Cleef & Arpels brand, and is still utilized today.
Soon everyone wanted to wear Van Cleef & Arpels and the list of famous and royal clientele was extensive. Van Cleef & Arpels received private commissions from the likes of King Farouk, the Prince of Nepal, Prince Ibrahaim of Egypt, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, and famed jewelry-lover Elizabeth Taylor. These special clients allowed the maison to make some crazy pieces of jewelry with insane stones – think necklaces with 90 carat diamonds (yes, diamonds plural). Clearly, VCA had established itself as a market leader.
Getting Into Timepieces
So by now, you are probably asking yourself, "what the heck does all this have to do with watches?" Well, a lot. While Van Cleef & Arpels was not a frontrunner when it came to horological advances, the brand was certainly up there when it came to early wristwatch design. Women were active watch wearers at the turn of the 20th century. Remember, it was a ladies' perpetual calendar watch movement that was placed in the first perpetual calendar wristwatch by Patek Philippe in 1925.
In the late 1920s, ladies' watches were still often worn on chains or pendants, but Van Cleef & Arpels moved away from this by implementing bracelet watches. There were four specific lines of ladies' wristwatches produced by Van Cleef & Arpels from the 1930s. They were the Shutter watch, the Maguerite (a clip attached to a chain), the Diabolo bracelet watch, and the Cadenas or "padlock." The Cadenas remained in production until the 1960s and was recently brought back to life by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2015.
The Cadenas Watch
First produced in 1935, the Cadenas watch is one of the most iconic watches ever created by Van Cleef & Arpels. Rumor has it that Wallis Simpson (the Duchess of Windsor at the time) herself inspired the design, but this has yet to be confirmed (she definitely owned one though). The design gets its name from the padlock-shaped clasp that latches onto the serpent-like bracelet. The head of the watch is trapezoidal and the dial of the watch is place on an angle so when you wear the watch the dial lies perpendicular to the plane of your wrist. You read it almost like you would read a men's driving watch.
More often that not, the watch featured some kind of gem-setting too, whether it be along the head of the case or a dusting throughout. It was not uncommon to see the implementation of the patented serti invisible for which Van Cleef & Arpels was famous, and you can see that on the watch here with sapphires on top of the case. I have seen other examples with rubies and diamonds, and some without stones at all. Most of these watches were not worn particularly hard, so there are examples out there still, and many are in good condition.
The watch you see here was produced in the late 1930s and is marked with French assay marks, and the clasp is numbered 55705. The 18k yellow gold case is signed by Van Cleef & Arpels on the underside, next to the winding crown on the back. The case measures 25mm by 17mm and it is set with seven square-cut sapphires, while the clasp is set with another five square-cut sapphires. Both settings feature the serti invisible technique – notice you don't see any setting prongs, just the stones themselves. The bracelet is an integrated double yellow gold serpent-style bracelet with a hinged tear-drop shaped clasp.
One of the best features of this watch is the slinky texture of the bracelet and the way that it falls on the wrist. Unlike, say, a Rolex bracelet, which you want more closely fitted on the wrist, this watch is meant to drape lightly, making it one seriously elegant timepiece. The dial is tiny and a little hard to read discreetly as intended. However, it is important to remember that this watch is a reflection of the times. In the 1930s and 1940s women who would wear this watch weren't likely as concerned with time as we are today (remember, the weekend wasn't even an idea until 1929), so they didn't need a big watch to tell them when it was time to go to their next appointment. They also definitely wouldn't have worn this watch with jeans, but I think it's a pretty great look.
Another intriguing feature is the tiny, manually-wound Cyma caliber 354 inside. The Swiss manufacturer was founded in 1862 and thrived during the 1920s and 1930s, both in producing movements for watches like this one, and for making its own watches. Funnily enough, at the same time as this watch was produced, Cyma was making military watches for soldiers in World War II. Finding a starker contrast between two watches would be difficult.
The Cadenas Today
In my opinion, the Cadenas has maintained its status today as one of the ultimate ladies' watches. Vintage examples are still very present in the auction market, however you tend to see them in jewelry sales instead of watch sales. The prices vary from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on age, condition, and gemstones. Sometimes they fetch crazy prices like the one that belonged to the Duchess of Windsor that sold for CHF 362,500 back in 2011.
Van Cleef & Arpels also brought the Cadenas back in a modern interpretation at SIHH 2015. The design is almost identical, with the exception of an updated quartz movement, new diamond-setting, and a different dial layout. Van Cleef & Arpels continues to reimagine this classic with new gemstone and bracelet options, with the watches retailing from $20,800 up to $153,000.
For me, these watches are a beautiful representation of a bygone era. The vintage pieces are well-crafted, beautifully finished, and are incredibly elegant on the wrist. They symbolize a time in the watch and jewelry world when people were pushing the envelope and doing really cool things, all in an age well before you could share crazy wristshots on Instagram. It's amazing to see how far we have come and how the industry continues to evolve.
For more, visit Van Cleef & Arpels online.
Top Discussions
Breaking News Patek Philippe's Ref. 5711 Nautilus Is Back As A Unique Piece For Charity
Found Three Of The Best Tourbillon Wristwatches Ever Made, For Sale This Week
Photo Report A Visit To Nomos Glashütte