Van Cleef & Arpels announces the arrival of L’ÉCOLE to the Middle East

Natalie Hanson   |   11-04-2017

Today it was announced that L’ÉCOLE Van Cleef & Arpels will be coming to Dubai later this year; which will be the school’s first venture into the Middle East.

L’ÉCOLE was founded in 2012 with the support of Maison Van Cleef & Arpels as the world’s first school established for the general public to discover the savior-faire, history and culture of fine jewellery and watch-making. Previously, the school has visited Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong.

L'Ecole Van Cleef and Arpels 1

Image left to right: Nicolas Bos, Chief Executive Officer, Van Cleef & Arpels; Guy Châtillon, President of Van Cleef & Arpels Europe, Russia and Middle East; Marie Vallanet-Delhom, President, L’ÉCOLE Des Arts Joailliers and Alessandro Maffi, Managing Director, Middle East & India, Van Cleef & Arpels.

From 7th – 25th November 2017, the Paris based school will set up a campus at Hai d3 in Dubai Design District to shed light on the hidden world of jewellery and watch-making. The school presents a unique opportunity to enrich the knowledge of the general public through experimentation and dialogue.

The program will present a full set of classes led by professional art historians, jewellers, gemologists and watchmakers and will revolve around three themes; savoir-faire, art history of jewellery and the universe of gemstones. Also, there will be evening talks and exhibits to complement this first visit of the jewellery school to the region.

L’ÉCOLE also aims to inspire youth and so will invite a young audience to develop its creativity through the offer of six workshops that explore the creative professions. These will take place through local schools’ collaborations during the week and will be open to the public during the weekends.

L'Ecole Van Cleef and Arpels 2

Image left to right: Mr. Mohammad Al Shehhi, Sheikha Nawar bint Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ms Amal Al Redha, H.E. Mr Michel Miraillet. Marie Vallanet-Delhom, Guy Châtillon, H.E. Mrs Huda Ebrahim Alkhamis, Nicolas Bos, Mrs Suhaila Gubash, Prof. Eric Fouache, Mrs. Michele Bambling, Mr. Jasper Hope, Ms. Reem Shadid and Alessandro Maffi.

To support the arrival of L’ÉCOLE to the Middle East, the school has partnered with UAE-based institutions from a cultural and educational background. L’ÉCOLE has formed a cultural partnership with Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, a destination partnership with Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).

L’ÉCOLE Van Cleef & Arpels in Dubai will also be supporting the “Year of Giving”, as declared by the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This means that all funds collected from course registrations during the event will be donated to Dubai Cares.

Enrollment for the courses will open in September 2017