Cover The translucent pink enamel in the new Alhambra collection is produced using a method inspired by the historic ‘gold-ruby’ technique, a seventeenth-century process in which fine gold particles suspended within the material itself generate the hue
The translucent pink enamel in the new Alhambra collection is produced using a method inspired by the historic ‘gold-ruby’ technique, a seventeenth-century process in which fine gold particles suspended within the material itself generate the hue
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Van Cleef & Arpels is opening a fresh chapter in the history of Alhambra, its most recognisable collection
Nearly six decades after the four-leaf clover motif first appeared, the Van Cleef & Arpels has introduced a new Alhambra line rendered in enamel, a material with deep roots in the house’s history, and one that has never before been used across the Alhambra family in quite this way.
The Alhambra story began in 1968, when Van Cleef & Arpels created its first long necklace built from 20 clover-shaped motifs in textured yellow gold, each trimmed with the double-beaded contour that remains the collection’s signature. Since then, the design has been loved and prized for its fluidity and wearability, and quickly became shorthand for the Maison’s broader philosophy around luck.
Also read: A clover that conquered the world: Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra
Above The newest Alhambra additions feature a translucent pink enamel
The newest Alhambra additions feature a translucent pink enamel
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Four-leaf clovers first appeared in Van Cleef & Arpels records as early as 1906, joined over the decades by wooden talismans, charms and ladybugs as recurring symbols of good fortune. In the years since, Alhambra has been reinterpreted again and again. Designers have worked the motif in yellow, rose and white gold—polished, textured or guilloché—and paired it with materials ranging from onyx and carnelian to mother-of-pearl and even Sèvres porcelain.
Above Vintage Alhambra pendant, Vintage Alhambra ring, Vintage Alhambra bracelet
Above Magic Alhambra earrings
Vintage Alhambra pendant, Vintage Alhambra ring, Vintage Alhambra bracelet
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For this release, the Maison turns to enamel, a material it has worked with since its founding in 1906. This time it appears in a vivid, translucent pink, a feat which took years of work inside the Van Cleef & Arpels workshops. The colour is produced using a method inspired by the historic ‘gold-ruby’ technique, a seventeenth-century process in which fine gold particles suspended within the material itself generate the hue. It’s a process that demands exacting control over the size, shape and concentration of those particles, and one that took several years of research and development to resolve for the scale and curvature of an Alhambra motif.
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The finished enamel, set against yellow or guilloché yellow gold, has a translucent quality flecked with tiny bubbles that give each clover a sense of depth and individuality—no two motifs catch the light in quite the same way.
“With these Alhambra creations in enamel, Van Cleef & Arpels opens a new chapter in the history of its iconic collection, symbol of luck,” shares Catherine Renier, president and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. “Thanks to our workshops’ expertise and capacity for innovation, enamel brings an original aesthetic and shade to the Alhambra universe, which has continuously reinvented itself over the decades. This traditional jewellery material delivers effects of colour, light and transparency, patiently fine-tuned to enhance the pieces.”
Enamel’s presence in the Alhambra collection is a return to form as much as an innovation. The material has been part of Van Cleef & Arpels’ vocabulary since the Maison’s earliest years, appearing on vanity cases, cigarette boxes and jewelled clips through the 1920s and 1930s, on the endearing animal and floral pieces of the 1950s and ’60s ‘la boutique’ line, and later within the Maison's Poetic Complications watches and Extraordinary Dials. Now that history has been brought into dialogue with one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ most enduring designs, a lucky charm for a new age.
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