Drawing of two Night Butterfly clips (Circa 1966)

Take a moment to enjoy the graceful flight of birds and butterflies! These drawings from the 1940s to the 1970s reveal several key aspects of Van Cleef & Arpels’ style. Firstly, color: you can see how the designers have played with a wide palette of shades when depicting feathers and wings. The designers dreamt up combinations of precious and ornamental stones that the craftsmen and women would then use to create the pieces. If you look carefully, you can see that some of the animals on the drawings can also be found in the display cases, such as the Bird of Paradise (1942) and the Night Butterfly (1966).

The second key aspect is movement. While looking at the designs, you may notice that most of the birds and butterflies are depicted in mid-flight, as if caught on the wing. The designers paid attention to wing shapes and body postures, as you can see from the 1975 design depicting a spotted butterfly. The drawings sometimes show the same creature in different positions, such as the 1963 Bird of Paradise. This shows how a designer would try out several options before choosing the best one.