Van Cleef & Arpels' Mystery Set: patent filed 2 December 1933; Chaumet's 1904 patent and Cartier's before it, neither exploited at scale; grooved stones slid onto rails; no metal visible from the front
Van Cleef & Arpels calls the technique the Mystery Set.
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The post, as it ran
01ON 2 DECEMBER 1933 VAN CLEEF & ARPELS FILED A PATENT FOR SETTING GEMS WITH NO METAL SHOWING. IT BECAME THE MYSTERY SET.
02IT WASN'T THE FIRST. CHAUMET REGISTERED A PATENT FOR AN INVISIBLE SETTING IN 1904, AND CARTIER HAD ONE TOO.
03NEITHER OF THOSE PATENTS WAS USED ON A LARGE SCALE.
04EACH STONE HAS A GROOVE CUT ALONG ITS SIDE, AND SLIDES ONTO RAILS OF PRECIOUS METAL.