Cover The new Alhambra collection by Van Cleef & Arpels is set with a translucent pink enamel, its colour produced by fine gold particles suspended in the material and its surface strewn with tiny bubbles for added depth (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
The new Alhambra collection by Van Cleef & Arpels is set with a translucent pink enamel, its colour produced by fine gold particles suspended in the material and its surface strewn with tiny bubbles for added depth (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
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Van Cleef & Arpels’ new Alhambra enamel collection marks the maison’s first use of the material on its four-leaf clover, built on a gold-ruby technique perfected over several years
Van Cleef & Arpels created the first Alhambra long necklace in 1968, a design of 20 motifs in textured yellow gold trimmed with a double beaded contour. The piece complemented the fluid, easy-to-wear silhouettes of the era and became an instant success, laying the foundation for a collection the maison has continued to develop for over 50 years.
In the decades since, Alhambra has taken on onyx, carnelian, mother of pearl, guilloché gold, diamonds, blue agate, chalcedony and even Sèvres porcelain, with each new material shifting the collection’s tone while keeping its original four-leaf clover motif intact. Enamel marks the next material in that sequence, and the first: a translucent pink developed over several years in the maison’s enamel workshops, chosen to extend Alhambra’s polychrome identity. The new pieces include a Vintage Alhambra pendant, a five-motif bracelet, a ten-motif necklace and a 20-motif long necklace, alongside a pair of two-motif Magic Alhambra earrings in guilloché yellow gold, all set with the new pink enamel.
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Above Vintage Alhambra bracelet, 5 motifs (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Vintage Alhambra bracelet, 5 motifs (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
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The pink is made using a technique inspired by 17th-century gold-ruby glass. Unlike most coloured enamel, where pigment does the work, this method gets its colour from fine particles of gold suspended within the material itself. The particles have to be exactly the right size, shape and concentration, and getting that balance right took the maison’s enamel workshops several years of research to adapt the process for the Alhambra motifs. The payoff is a pink strewn with tiny bubbles that catch light unevenly, giving each clover its own depth, and a reflective quality the maison says is slightly superior to that of an emerald.
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A model wearing the new pink enamel Vintage Alhambra long necklace and a matching 5-motif bracelet (Photo: courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
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Van Cleef & Arpels' enamel workshop now commands more than 15 techniques, among them miniature painting, grisaille, plique-à-jour and enamel decal, alongside façonné enamel, a newer method for building three-dimensional volume already seen on the Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté watch. An in-house school trains enamellers over three years.
Setting the curved motifs takes its own precision: each is held by claws folded flat and rounded on the reverse, within the double row of gold beads that has defined Alhambra from the start.
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As the Regional Editor for Watches and Jewellery and Editorial Content Lead for Tatler GMT, Amrita Katara specialises in luxury watch and jewellery coverage across Asia, with expertise in editorial strategy, feature writing and interviews with industry leaders. Her past roles span luxury lifestyle media and client partnerships. Based in Mumbai, Amrita’s work bridges global trends and Asian market insights.
