The jewelry creations of Van Cleef & Arpels have always conjured up fantasy and imagination. Its collections are whimsical and playful and brilliantly exquisite. The latest High Jewelry collection takes otherworldly forms and terrestrial symbols to the next level with Palais de la Chance.
Van Cleef & Arpels has gathered myriad lucky symbols, gleaned between heaven and earth and across the seven seas. Throughout its history, Van Cleef & Arpels has placed special emphasis on luck, love and happiness. Whether drawn from heaven or earth, from real or imaginary universes, symbols of luck are ever present in the world of Van Cleef & Arpels. Ladybirds, four-leaf clovers, fairies and unicorns have all exerted their benevolent influence over the house’s destiny.
In keeping with its distinctly poetic worldview, Van Cleef & Arpels pays tribute to luck in all her forms with this new High Jewelry collection of 17 pieces. Combining several of Van Cleef & Arpels’ characteristic influences, the collection is organized around three themes: Your lucky star, Lucky-charm nature and Lucky legends. They include exceptional colored gems, carved hard stones and daring associations of materials.
For the Étoile Filante clip, the star’s luminous tail is outlined by round, pear-shaped and rose-cut diamonds, creating an impression of movement, while a hidden mechanism enables the star motif to be turned 360 degrees.
Hirondelles was inspired by the flight of swallows—gracious birds that inspired a collection of diamonds clips for the house in the 1920s. Harbingers of spring, the migratory birds are considered lucky in Europe: they are thought to bring good fortune to the home where they build their nest.
A delicate gradation of green—composed of emeralds, tsavorite garnets and chrysoprase beads—is offset by the radiant pink hue of a 19.59-carat tourmaline. Dazzling touches of onyx and black lacquer highlight the ensemble, along with an exceptional batch of 39 Tahitian cultured pearls, remarkable for their dark grey color and the quality of their luster.
For the Lierre necklace, ivy is represented by a batch of 56 oval-cut emeralds from Zambia, weighing a total of 98.62 carats. Intense and luminous green, these stones are as remarkable for the consistency of their color as they are for their brilliance. A jeweled clasp in the form of an ivy leaf adds a discrete lucky charm to this majestic necklace.
The Maison began creating Egyptian-inspired jewelry in 1922, the year in which Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings. Sautoirs, bracelets, clips and timepieces were all decorated with traditional motifs in onyx, rubies and emeralds. The Egyptian theme takes center stage again today, with this set, Everlasting Light, incorporating various symbols. The frog is depicted on various parts of the necklace, as well as on one of the earrings. Diamond palm leaves, fringed with onyx, recall palm trees on the banks of the Nile. The necklace’s tassel is crowned with a motif in lapis lazuli, a highly prized stone in Ancient Egypt.
This Bianfu ring is stylized and adorned with pink sapphires, while the bat—a symbol of happiness and prosperity in Feng Shui—blends harmoniously into the Bianfu ring’s cloudlike volutes. This delicate openwork setting is crowned by an exceptional purple sapphire from Sri Lanka, weighing 23.34 carats.
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