A great Bos
Van Cleef & Arpels’ chief Nicolas Bos combines his business vision and artistic creativity to come up with amazing jewellery, writes Jacqueline Tsang
Nicolas Bos is a man who wears two very important hats. The charming 42-year-old is the creative director, and the global president and CEO of highjewellery maison Van Cleef & Arpels. While Bos is now an expert on the creative and business sides of jewellery making, this was not always the case.
“It was actually by accident that I came into this line of work,” Bos says. More than 20 years ago, the then-fresh university graduate had a keen interest in art and creative design but, he says, “Like many people, I didn’t really see jewellery as an art form.
This was something I discovered over the years”.
“I started out not knowing much about the jewellery or luxury side – it was more about the arts,” he recalls. “Over time, I started getting more involved with the business side at Cartier.” He maintained this link to the brand’s business administrations and, in 2000, when Richemont acquired Van Cleef & Arpels, he became part of the team assigned to oversee and redevelop the jewellery house.
Most people familiar with Van Cleef & Arpels know of the romance and sentimentality that characterise its beautiful collections, but what they might not be aware of is what happens behind the scenes – the brand’s unwavering and painstaking devotion to quality.
“What I still love more than ever is the level of consistency, the demand of excellence … to meet people in the business whose motto was ‘Never Compromise’,” Bos says. He remembers how the highly skilled craftsmen would work tirelessly to find the right stone of just the right quality.
“If there was a way to improve something, they wouldn’t stop trying until they got there,” he adds.
“To me, that was fascinating. What I saw was a very beautiful creative universe.”
This attention to detail was what prompted Bos to start seeing jewellery making as an art form. “I’d always liked decorative arts … [and now] there was this idea of artistic value attached to everyday objects, that you could bring artistry to something you wear and touch, not just a painting that you hang on the wall,” he says.