Love, legacy and leadership: Van Cleef & Arpels enters a new era under Catherine Rénier
A century-old maison famed for its romantic spirit and technical mastery, Van Cleef & Arpels has long enchanted collectors and fashionistas alike. In September last year, the house welcomed a new CEO, Catherine Rénier, who brought with her both an insider’s reverence for tradition and a clear-eyed vision for the future.
Rénier first joined Van Cleef & Arpels in 2003, and worked in a variety of roles until 2018, when she was appointed as CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. A season into her return to the jewellery maison, she shares with Tatler her thoughts on legacy and innovation, and the emotional resonance of jewellery and timepieces that are designed to outlast generations.
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Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Van Cleef & Arpels has evolved significantly in recent years. What has changed since you first joined and what has remained constant?
A lot remains the same. The maison has simply reached a new scale—our initiatives have taken on a new dimension. Take [jewellery arts school] L’École, for example: it began in Paris in 2012, [then] travelled to Hong Kong as a nomadic initiative, and in 2019 we opened our first campus there. Now, L’École has four campuses and a large number of partners and projects.
It’s a good example of how we’ve consistently built on our core values—education, creativity, expertise and craftsmanship—which continue to resonate and are even more [fundamental today].
Your new watch novelties, launched at Watches and Wonders, tell love stories set in Paris, building on the legacy of the Pont des Amoureux collection. Can you share how this concept evolved?
Pont des Amoureux was one of our first poetic complications and quickly took on a life of its own. It tells a universal story— love on a bridge in Paris—that transcends generations and cultures. The grisaille enamelling creates a magical night-time Paris, with blue and grey. We wanted this story to continue, so we developed new pieces where the characters are now animated—almost dancing— outside a Parisian guinguette [tavern].
Achieving this fluid movement took four years and three patents, pushing the boundaries of animation in watchmaking. With the new [Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate] watch, we’re still in Paris, still in that evening light, but now the story is more alive than ever.
Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Love seems to be at the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels. What does it mean to you personally to capture love in a piece?
To me, the objects we create are designed to evoke emotion—beauty, unique memories and, of course, love. Often, a jewel or extraordinary object is gifted at a special moment in life—weddings, birthdays, anniversaries. These emotions and memories are deeply connected to love, which plays such an important role in our lives. Our creations are meant to carry and commemorate those moments.
The maison was a result of founders Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels’s love story. If you could speak to them today, what advice do you think they’d offer for leading the maison in 2025?
I think they would say: be open, look outward and always be ready to learn and discover. They would encourage creativity and insist on excellence in our stones and the quality of our products. That’s what they were about—being experts to the core.
Van Cleef & Arpels is known for telling time in a poetic manner. How does this philosophy shape the way you measure success?
We view time [from] a long perspective. Our creations are timeless—they’re not designed for short cycles, but to last for generations, ideally passed from one family member to the next. That’s the poetry of time in jewellery and watchmaking. We feel a responsibility to ensure our products are of such quality and detail that they carry the maison’s message far into the future.
Social expectations often steer design choices; when the Cadenas watch was released in 1935, for example, it met the need to be able to discreetly check the time. What needs in the modern world might inspire the next iconic Van Cleef & Arpels design?
Today, I believe what Van Cleef & Arpels brings is a positive vision of life. Our poetic complications offer a different view of time—one filled with emotion, sometimes humour, and always a sense of celebration. In a world obsessed with constant notifications and timekeeping, our pieces invite people to step away from the clock and be present in the moment; to admire the object and the moment] but with emotion and meaning.
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