About Van Cleef & Arpels brand
Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry has been worn by celebrities and royalty since the first boutique opening in 1906. Being founded by a daughter of a precious stone dealer and a son of a stone cutter, Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef, the brand was meant to be big the jewelry world. Press used to call the power couple union “The Maison based on love.”
Even before Art Deco was pronounced as a style, VCA brand was known for their skillfully made, bold geometric pieces. Later, during the century, the maker mastered this design approach to the top-notch jewelry level. The experimental spirit, fearless usage of the exotic materials and truly unique gemstone combinations brought Van Cleef & Arpels to the top three of the jewelry worlds.
In ordered to make this prestigious jewelry affordable not only for a prestige clientele, Nadine Krakov Collection offers a wide selection of estate Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry without the high markups.
Shop for our Van Cleef & Arpels ring collection, Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and VCA earrings.
About French Jewelry
Vintage French jewelry is highly valued by jewelry experts and enthusiasts. Since the late Renaissance, France has been established itself as one of the world trendsetters in art and fashion. A quick look at the Top Five French jewelry designers — Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermes, Chaumet, Chanel — describes French level of greatness even better.
What allowed France to reach such a high level in the jewelry world hierarchy? In a nutshell, it's because of the apprenticeship system. In the beginning of 1950s in France anyone at the age 14 could start learning the craft. This way French jewelers, like no others in the world, gain a substantial portion of experience at the early age. Even non-designer jewels were produced by the high skilled masters.
Modern jewelry is not handcrafted anymore, and mass market-oriented production is prevailing. Jewelry designs are streamlined to use as less hand labor as possible. That's why today vintage French jewelry is in such high demand. Nadine Krakov Collection offers the most desirablevintage jewelry online made by French experts.
About estate jewelry
Buying jewelry online can be challenging. The quality of the making has not got better over the time while the design is getting more and more generic. Add ever rising prices and you could end up with not finding anything suitable. To purchase a high-quality jewelry piece for an obtainable price consider buying estate items.
• Quality vs Quantity
Estate pieces mostly belong to the era when jewels were handmade and not mass produced. There were simply less jewelry makers at that time and they cared about their reputation. Opposed to the current fast fashion approach, life pace was in general slower. That allowed makers to take more time to craft a truly quality piece.
• Fair price vs Overpriced
Designer pieces aka signed pieces can cost multiple times more
than their unsigned equivalents. We pay not only for an item itself but also for the brand advertising campaigns and all the buzz the name is creating. Prices for estate jewelry form differently and mostly depend on the cost paid by a seller. A pre-owned Bulgari ring and a brand-new Bulgari piece have a significant price difference. Ask your local jewelry store about a retail price of the desired piece and you’d be pleasantly surprised.
• True value vs Seasonal rush
Pre-owned jewelry retains its value as over the time it gets unique and sought-after. Think purchasing a new car that loses its value right after you left your dealer versus buying a vintage vehicle.
At Nadine Krakov Collection we love all the things beauty and high-quality. Each of our estate jewelry piece is in excellent condition. We preserve the history and the greatest styles of the past so our clients can enjoy it at the fullest.
