To bring its collection Une Journée à Paris to the iPhone and iPod touch, luxury French jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels launched the app A Day in Paris with Van Cleef & Arpels. But instead of focusing the app on its jewelry line, Van Cleef & Arpels instead celebrates the collection’s inspiration: Paris, the City of Lights.
The highlight of A Day in Paris is its city tour. In the “Poetic ballads in Paris” section, users select from five locations, including Place de l’Etoile, Place de la Concorde and Place de la Bastille. After selecting a starting point the app presents an option to “Live the Ballad” in which visitors walk a designated path, discovering poetic places along the way, as shown on a map. Alternatively, users can select to watch a film of the journey set to music. The same song played in every video for me, and it got annoying after awhile, but the videos are nicely produced and made me feel like I was exploring Paris on my own.
In the “Poetic places in Paris” section, users will find a variety of destinations including historic sites, famous locales and restaurants, such as La maison de Balzac, Les Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower’s Le Jules Verne. Selecting one of the 25 locations displays a brief write-up and users can access phone numbers, addresses and view the site through a Google Map.
Although not the main focus, 10 pieces from the jewelry lines, aptly titled “Romance à Paris” and “Mercredi à Paris,” are available to peruse in the app as is a worldwide store finder.
If I had at a trip to Paris coming up, I would definitely make sure this free app was on my iPhone simply to see firsthand what Parisian sights the legendary jeweler deemed worthy. I may not be able to afford Van Cleef & Arpels’ wares, but I’d be happy to spend a day in Paris with them.
