Why Van Cleef & Arpels’ New High Jewellery Collection Is a Cut Above the Rest

The French jewellery maison pays tribute to its glorious heritage with its Legend of Diamonds high jewellery collection

How often do you get to appreciate the magnificence of high jewellery up close? For a glorious three days in early July, I was presented with just that opportunity at Haute Couture Week, but one particular collection stood out for its glorious celebration of gemstones, heritage and impeccable craftsmanship.

Dear reader, I am, of course, talking about French jewellery maison Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest high jewellery offering: the Legend of Diamonds.

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The collection gets its name from the Lesotho Legend, a hulking 910-carat rough diamond (the fifth largest to be ever mined in the world!) that the house acquired for US$40 million in 2018, which takes the pride of place in the 25-piece strong collection.

Working with the specialists at Diamcad, a leading diamond cutter in Antwerp, the house meticulously planned the cutting and faceting of the stone into an array of cut stones (67 in total), and also gave them the opportunity to create perfectly matched stones of identical weight and size.

What this means is that the stones that you find on the Volutes Mystérieuses earrings, for example, will be exactly identical to one another, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and technical know-how. J’adore!

The craftsmanship of the house was also on full display, with its iconic Mystery Set technique taking centre stage. First patented by the maison in 1933, the painstaking technique allows precious stones to be set close to one another with no prong or other metal component visible, earning it the moniker “the invisible setting”.

“The first six months of designing the collection were particularly intense. We had to envision creations that embodied the maison’s style, that highlighted its expertise, such as the Mystery Set technique, while also enhancing these diamonds which, at that point, had not yet taken their final shape,” explained Thomas Pozsgai, director of the Van Cleef & Arpels Design Studio.

The design studio finally paired the stones with three dimensional designs taking its cues from haute couture—think an unfurling ribbon motif for a brooch, or a fanciful bow necklace—and used the Mystery Set technique to its full effect, creating undulating swirls of rubies or solid chevrons of emeralds framed by sapphires for the Legend of Diamonds collection.

“The challenge was to design harmonious pieces that brought all these elements together without one overshadowing the others,” Pozsgai added.

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Of course, with a heritage as rich as Van Cleef & Arpels’, you’d be hard pressed to find a piece that doesn’t draw from its immensely prolific archive. In its golden age, the French maison was a must-visit of aristocrats and royalty from far and wide. The Maharani of Baroda was one famous client, as were Princess Fawzia of Egypt (later the Queen of Iran), Princess Grace of Monaco, and Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. This left an abundant legacy of creative designs and historical inspiration for the current team.

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It’s no surprise then, that the collection pays tribute to several archival pieces that were fashioned for the maison’s blue-blooded clientele. The Atours Mystérieux necklace, for one, shares its design DNA with the house’s 1938 Collerette necklace, and a diamond necklace created for Queen Nazli of Egypt in 1939. It has been updated for the discerning, modern customer and is transformable, allowing the hefty 79.35-carat diamond to be worn detached on a chain, or be replaced by an Individual Mystery Set composition.

When talking about the collection, Nicolas Bos, president and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels was visibly proud of what the maison achieved. “Developing Legend of Diamonds took about four years from the time we first saw the rough stone to the release of the finished pieces,” he said. “I think we have successfully shown that an exceptional diamond can be the starting point for an extraordinary collection that will be a milestone in the history of the maison.”