With its latest high jewelry collection, Van Cleef & Arpels took to the high seas, figuratively speaking, with Miami as its first port of call.
On Nov. 17, at the waterfront estate Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the house revealed 125 pieces from a 300-jewel collection based on “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The 19th-century adventure novel was the latest in the jeweler’s literary inspirations, which have included works by Jules Verne and fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault.
“What I love about the book is the level of detail,” Catherine Rénier, the house’s chief executive, said during a recent interview in Paris, “the beautiful descriptions of each character and every leg of the journey.”
The house has long created pieces referencing ballerinas, princes and fairies. This collection included clips in the shape of pirates — named John, Jim and David, after characters in the novel — which were hand-carved in green wax, then cast in precious metal using the lost wax technique, to allow a high level of detail and contrast in their costumes and features.
Figures not directly linked to the book but meant to represent treasure and lost civilizations — such as representations of the Mayan gods of wind and sky, the king of Uxmal and a Tikal dancer — were wrought in gold with diamonds and pink and blue sapphires. (All pieces are price on application; the rest of the collection will be introduced as it is completed.)
And the Palmier Mystérieux clip, a variation on an archival piece from the 1940s, featured two palm trees on a desert island, their trunks sculpted in rose gold and fronds set with calibrated emeralds. To vary the scene, a diamond-encrusted ship, a miniature gold treasure chest bearing rubies and sapphires or a setting sun in hammered and carved gold may be added to the horizon. The clip and three motifs are to be sold as a set.
While most of the collection’s pieces followed the book, the story of the collection is really about the stones.
The Palmeraie Merveilleuse articulated necklace, for example, had a pendant set with a Colombian emerald cabochon of nearly 48 carats. That element may be removed from the necklace of gadrooned lines, alternating plain gold and diamonds, and worn as a brooch.
In keeping with the high seas narrative, the En Haute Mer necklace showcased a 55.35-carat emerald-cut sapphire wrapped in cords of yellow and white gold arranged to resemble the reef knots, clove hitches and coiled ropes found aboard a ship. The nautical aesthetic, which the jeweler began to use in the mid-1940s, also nodded to couture elements such as the braided trims known as passementerie.
Ms. Rénier, who was appointed in July, said she hoped to return gems to the center of the house’s story as she settled into her new role. (She had worked for Van Cleef & Arpels previously, initially joining in 2003, the year it unveiled a high jewelry collection based on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the first of its literary inspirations.)
“Stones are important elements of inspiration for us, and the house’s expertise in that domain is such that it deserves to be brought forward for our clients and the public,” she said.
“We’re talking about an enchanted world,” she added. “Who doesn’t need a little bit more poetry these days?” To that end, the book for the house’s next collection is already on her night stand, she said.
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