
For Heaven’s Sake
For its latest collection, the jeweller of choice for Hollywood luminaries looks to the stars
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When Elizabeth Taylor offloaded her jewels at Christie’s in 2011 like so many tchotchkes at a garage sale, there were a staggering 22 pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels. The lot, which raked in US$115 million (around $175 million), included the Lamartine bracelet and the Puertas ruby ring, given to her by Richard Burton. The latter, presented as a Christmas gift in 1968, sold for US$4,226,500. It was a confluence of fashion and fame that surprised no one.
Since its founding in 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels has been synonymous with Hollywood’s leading ladies. In the silent-era, Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo were among the film stars to beat a path to the Maison’s front door in Paris’s Place Vendôme. In 1937, the jeweller famously created a ruby-and-diamond Jarretière bracelet, one of the most spectacular pieces it had ever made, for Marlene Dietrich. Like other actresses of the time, Dietrich was not coerced into wearing it by a stylist and purchased the bracelet for herself (she would later rock it in Stage Fright, the 1950 Alfred Hitchcock film).

Van Cleef & Arpels decamped to New York in 1939, establishing its fabled Fifth Avenue flagship and cementing its link to Hollywood. But these beauties aren’t the only stars associated with the esteemed jeweller: the zodiac theme has appeared in Van Cleef & Arpels collections since its lucky charm medals were launched in the 1950s. An alignment of the company’s two key motifs, nature and astronomy, over the years these astrological designs became as iconic as the Maison’s other vedettes—the Zip necklace and Alhambra collections.

Now, in an homage to the brand’s celestial creations from the 1970s, Van Cleef & Arpels introduces 12 Zodiaque necklaces interpreting the symbolism of the constellations. The face features animals and characters associated with the different signs, while the reverse side offers Art Deco-inspired textured gold depictions of the zodiac symbols and the dates they correspond to on the calendar.
A selection of ornamental stones, chosen for their nuance and quality on both sides, imbues each sign with a distinctive personality: Cancer’s blue quartz evokes the depth of the oceans, speckled red jasper brings Leo to life, and so on.
On the watch front, a new range of astrologically inspired women’s models —a companion to the Midnight Zodiaque Lumineux men’s watches—are also being released by the company this year. The 12 gloriously designed dials in the new Lady Arpels Lumineux collection recreate the twinkle of stars with an exclusive light- on-demand module, developed exclusively for Van Cleef & Arpels, which illuminates thanks to a pioneering mechanical system. At the press of a button, the enamel beads on the dial radiate for about three seconds.
Brought into the world by the expertise of the Maison’s workshop, and an embodiment of the company’s commitment to innovation, both the watches and the high-jewellery drops are guaranteed to turn heads as much as the famous women who wear them.
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