By Alex Breeden / Japan News Staff Writer

16:21 JST, November 30, 2025

A fuzzy-headed bee with diamond eyes, a butterfly with sculpted wings, a perched bird with sapphire and emerald plumage. These are a few of the more minor pieces from jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels at a new exhibit being held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.

The exhibition, titled “Timeless Art Deco with Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry,” features 250 creations in total, some of which are true marvels. A collaret once owned by Princess Faiza of Egypt dangles 165 carats of cloudy, cabochon emeralds from strands of rectangular diamonds. Another necklace shimmers with 958 gems of varied cuts, yet looks delicate enough to have been snipped out of cloth.

Just as dazzling and more colorful is a bracelet of intertwined red ruby and white diamond roses. The bracelet helped the maison to win a grand prize at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, more commonly known as the “Art Deco Exhibit.” Incidentally, the grand prize certificate is also on display, as is video........

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