Van Cleef & Arpels — Local services in Houston

I live in Oregon and it was my first time visiting Texas. Prior to my trip, I already had my heart set on purchasing a 5-motif Alhambra blue agate bracelet. I made an appointment on the VCA website, about a week before. I received texts and E-Mails, reminding me of my appointment date and time. This was so helpful, because due to the travel and Texas heat, I pushed my appointment to the next day. VCA Houston kindly accommodated me over the phone.

Upon arriving to my appointment the next day, I was warmly greeted by security and boutique staff. The SA assigned to me was Jennifer Simmons. Right off the bat, she exuded a kind and friendly spirit. I was offered beverages and chocolates. She then asked questions about me, how my trip was going and what piece(s) I was interested in.

She was direct in the nicest of ways, meaning that she was never pushy, but honest in what stones and materials were ideal for my lifestyle. Jennifer made amazing recommendations and really opened my eyes to different stones and materials I’d never considered before. Her passion for the brand and what she does is very clear. She was patient and incredibly genuine during the entire experience. I told her that I’d done ample research and that I knew what I wanted. She informed me of what their current inventory was in the boutique at the time, and that we’d have to place an order for the item. It was already something I had come in expecting, as every thing is handmade. She let me see and try on different pieces and helped me try on the sizing bracelets to determine if I wanted to have my bracelet resized to a shorter length.

Unlike other luxury boutiques I’ve been to before, I felt incredibly comfortable here. Any questions/concerns I had were not only answered, but I felt validated and Jennifer addressed everything she could think of/I brought up. I can’t stress enough about how she made sure to pay attention to EVERY detail. I asked for “vibrant” stones and she included it in the order notes. She was honest in letting me know that the stones could have natural variations. Sometime after I’d returned home to Oregon, she updated me via text, that my bracelet had arrived at the boutique and sent pictures and videos of the piece. When I told her everything looked great, she sent it out to be resized locally in Houston. It would take about 10 days or so.

I placed my order with Jennifer at the beginning of October and I received my bracelet yesterday. It arrived much sooner than I expected. The item came beautifully wrapped and packaged. A travel jewelry pouch was included, along with the extra links that were removed from the piece itself.

This entire experience has been so memorable for me because I received the best customer service from Jennifer. I never once had to reach out to her first, because she’d reach out to me whenever there were any updates to my order. She would check in with me via text before doing anything (i.e. sending the bracelet to get resized or when she was about to ship out the order to me). Which was much appreciated, because I’m in the process of moving.

What really struck me about Jennifer, is how highly she speaks about her clients, her colleagues, VCA the brand and her boutique. During my appointment, she had a regular client of hers stop by the boutique to just say “hello”. She acknowledged him and greeted him warmly, but at no point did she step away or leave me by myself. Everything about her was so pleasant and sweet. She is amazing at building rapport with her clients and shows you how trustworthy she is, in the way she interacts with you. It’s abundantly clear that she prioritizes her clients’ happiness and satisfaction above everything else. And for these reasons, I will make all future VCA purchases with her. I highly recommend her to everyone who wants to have the full luxury VCA experience. You won’t be disappointed. Thank you a million times over, Jennifer! I wish you the best in all of your personal and...

It became a dream for me from my youth, when I first became acquainted with the history of the jewelry house. This is luxury, an apologist for the magical world, the most romantic, the apotheosis of elegance. Out of time, out of Instagram, out of trends. This is simply luxury, presented in a perfect and aesthetic form. On my first visit to Paris, I rushed with a few euros to the store just to feel the flair of this airy beauty. The lady who greeted me was a fairy. We talked about the magic of Van Cleef, about the uniqueness of the collections, about the incredible history that developed hand in hand with classics, ballet, and exquisite taste. It was English with an accent, my few words in broken French and the unique language of beauty. My check that day was embarrassingly ridiculous, but that didn't affect my wonderful experience. Several years passed and, finally, my dream as a student became possible. My first necklace was a gift from my husband without me. Men are structured differently, for them it’s usual: I came, I saw, I bought. But after a couple of months, we were already back together. Behind the bracelet. And my expectations were shattered. No magic, no advice on which stone would suit me best. I think I, like most other girls, get lost in choosing the color of the stone. I don't like alcohol, so I don't expect champagne, but water could be offered, given that this is Houston, where water is often more a necessity than a service. I was thirsty that day, but asking about water in a luxury boutique is not comme il faut. But all these are trifles; when they brought the bracelet to me to try on, it was covered with greasy stains. My clover also catches drops of perfume and cream, it’s natural to use. But bringing a bracelet with greasy stains from previous fittings to a client is wrong. Overall, I left the store with the feeling that the consultant decided I was not worthy of wearing this brand. There isn't that wonderful "welcome to the Van Cleef family" aftertaste. Which really upsets me and compares it with the experience in Houston, with Cartier, Tiffany, Bulgari and so on. The aftertaste of the service will make me change direction. I live two doors down from Van Cleef and Cartier, and the next time I go for great service will definitely not be Van Cleef. Several days have passed since the purchase, and I am one step away from deciding to cancel the order. In addition to jewelry, we buy history, experience, vivid emotions and deep memories. What I was deprived of. If a brand representative decided I don’t deserve a family, I accept. I don’t want to go to Paris because I’m dissatisfied with the service in Houston. Because here is my home now. And I want to wake up on a sunny morning, suddenly decide to treat myself with a cup of coffee, go to the store, talk about wonderful, receive great service and amazing things from my favorite brand. But don't feel ashameda to try on not very clean bracelet for $4,500 while dying of thirst. I really want the impression of a butterfly in the stomach, not just on the envelope with the check, after an excursion into the world of great heritage, the ticket to the world of which is the possession of a masterpiece of...

Just like most of the other reviews, I wanted to take this time to express our appreciation for Jennifer. The popularity of their bracelets has gone skyrocketed over the past few years and we visited a few boutiques on the east coast over the past 2 years where we used to live, all of which had zero stock for me to even try on without putting a full deposit and a 4-6months wait. From the moment we walked into the store Jennifer greeted us warmly and informed us that they have no bracelets at all in store to show. Usually this is when we walk out the store but she welcomed us and showed us where other pieces of the collection we were interested. I was able to put a few necklaces on my wrist to see how it would look on me, and this was a tremendous help in deciding on which piece I like. During this whole process, we could easily feel her passion towards this brand, and the true beauty and history behind each piece that she really appreciates and enjoys working with. She listened to what we had to say, and took the time to provide us a lot more knowledge than what a regular salesperson would bother to do. Even it was just a single comment about how good their chocolate was, she would explained which chocolatier it was. I believe this is what makes her service unique, above and beyond others. (Among all the high end jewelry sales we have met on fifth Ave!) And we felt very pleasant putting down a deposit despite the long wait. Looking forward to finally start my...