Cover Van Cleef & Arpels Paysage merveilleux bracelet in yellow and white gold set with sapphires and black spinels
Van Cleef & Arpels Paysage merveilleux bracelet in yellow and white gold set with sapphires and black spinels
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From royal adornments to sacred symbols, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Fascinating Egypt collection brings one of history’s most enduring civilisations into the world of contemporary high jewellery
How do you bring the world of ancient Egypt into modern high jewellery? For Van Cleef & Arpels, the answer lies not in recreating the past, but in reimagining it. In Fascinating Egypt, the maison transforms hieroglyphics, sacred animals, lotus flowers, royal adornments and scenes of daily life into some 180 abstract and figurative creations, filtering one of history’s most recognisable visual languages through contemporary design.
All this comes together in a collection that bridges past and present, translating ancient symbols through a modern high jewellery lens. A pharaonic breastplate becomes a supple diamond necklace centred on a 10.02-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond; ancient symbols inspire graphic earrings set with rubies and emeralds; and a lotus flower is rendered in Art Deco-inflected geometry and velvety Mystery Set rubies. Yet behind these new creations lies a relationship stretching back more than a century—one shaped not only by ancient Egypt itself, but by the successive waves of Egyptomania that swept through art, architecture, cinema and the decorative arts.
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Above Beauté Légendaire necklace in white and yellow gold set with a 10.02-carat yellow diamond, sapphires and diamonds; Voyageur de La Lune ring in white and yellow gold set with a 9.00-carat emerald and diamonds; Envolée Royale bracelet in white and yellow gold set with emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds
Beauté Légendaire necklace in white and yellow gold set with a 10.02-carat yellow diamond, sapphires and diamonds; Voyageur de La Lune ring in white and yellow gold set with a 9.00-carat emerald and diamonds; Envolée Royale bracelet in white and yellow gold set with emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds
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For Van Cleef & Arpels, this is familiar territory. Founded in Paris in 1906, the maison began creating Egyptian-inspired jewels in the wake of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, when the world’s fascination with the Egypt of the pharaohs reached a new intensity. Pieces from 1923 and 1924 combined Art Deco geometry with profile figures, papyrus flowers, animals and scenes of daily life, rendered in diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and onyx. The result was neither archaeological reproduction nor fantasy, but a graphic vocabulary that would return throughout the maison’s history.
The relationship soon became more personal. Members of Egypt’s royal family acquired several Van Cleef & Arpels creations during the 1930s and 1950s. In 1939, the maison received a special commission for the wedding of Princess Fawzia of Egypt, creating a diadem, necklace and pair of pendant earrings; for the same occasion, it produced a set for Queen Nazli that included an elaborate platinum-and-diamond necklace. A 1937 Peony clip, its ruby petals executed using the maison’s patented Mystery Set technique, was also acquired by the Egyptian sovereigns in 1946.
Above Fleur de Lotus Mystérieuse clip in rose and yellow gold with Traditional Mystery Set rubies, rubies and diamonds
Fleur de Lotus Mystérieuse clip in rose and yellow gold with Traditional Mystery Set rubies, rubies and diamonds
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That history finds one of its clearest contemporary expressions in the Princesse du Nil necklace. Its point of departure is a 1929 Collaret necklace later acquired by Princess Faiza of Egypt, whose geometric diamond composition was punctuated by cascading emerald drops. The new creation features 10 Colombian emerald drops totalling 107.37 carats alternate with seven white natural pearls totalling about 85.13 carats, suspended from a radiating arrangement of diamonds. A detachable back motif extends the composition beyond the neckline.
Elsewhere, the collection ranges widely in its references. The Beauté Légendaire necklace looks to the spectacular breastplate jewels of ancient Egyptian royalty—and their later appearances on stage and screen. At its centre sits a 10.02-carat cushion-cut Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond, held above a flexible diamond-set structure crossed by polished yellow-gold garlands. The clasp, appropriately, is concealed beneath a lotus flower set with sapphires.
The lotus motif reappears in the Fleur de Lotus Mystérieuse clip, where three flowers in profile combine round and baguette-cut diamonds with rubies and velvety passages of Traditional Mystery Set. Yet the piece also looks beyond Egypt: its interplay of curves and straight lines recalls an Art Deco tapestry by early 20th-century French artist and designer Émile-Allain Séguy. This breadth of reference is central to Fascinating Egypt, which draws as readily from later artistic interpretations as from ancient iconography.
Above Équilibre Sacré earrings with detachable pendants in yellow and white gold set with two emeralds of 5.54 and 5.06 carats, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds
Équilibre Sacré earrings with detachable pendants in yellow and white gold set with two emeralds of 5.54 and 5.06 carats, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds
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Colour provides another route through that history. Across the collection, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds meet lapis lazuli, turquoise and rock crystal in combinations informed by artists, illustrators and cinema. The Ornement de Saphir transformable long necklace, for instance, takes inspiration from ancient chest jewels and the long necklaces of the 1920s, yet its rounded forms and chromatic contrasts also nod to the Memphis Group of 1980s Italy. At its centre is a 6.59-carat Sri Lankan sapphire, accompanied by rubies, lapis lazuli and diamonds.
The collection’s range is perhaps clearest in its smaller creations. Three pairs of earrings translate hieroglyphic symbols into strongly vertical compositions: Magie de Rubis draws from imagery associated with the goddess Isis and features two Mozambican rubies weighing 2.18 and 2.07 carats; Félicité de Diamants centres on two pear-shaped diamonds of 1.70 and 1.69 carats; while the transformable Équilibre Sacré earrings showcase Zambian emeralds weighing 5.54 and 5.06 carats alongside rubies, sapphires and diamonds.
With Fascinating Egypt, Van Cleef & Arpels has set out not to resurrect the past but more so to acknowledge how often that past has already been reimagined. The maison adds its own chapter to that history, treating ancient Egypt not as a fixed archive of motifs, but as a visual language still capable of evolution.
Fragment Magnifique clip in yellow and white gold set with a 5.51-carat mauve sapphire, coral and diamonds; Fragment de Bonheur clip in yellow and white gold set with a 7.93-carat spessartite garnet, turquoise and diamonds
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Credits
Images: Van Cleef & Arpels
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Annabel Tan is the Editor of Watches and Jewellery at Tatler Singapore, where she covers all things luxury timepieces and fine jewellery across both print and digital platforms. She is also the Editor of Tatler GMT Singapore, a role that deepens her fascination with the ever-evolving world of watchmaking. Outside of work, she’s usually on the hunt for her next favourite watch that she can’t afford, planning her next beach getaway, or catching up on the latest Formula 1 race.
