Take A Trip With Van Cleef & Arpels With Their New Le Grand Tour High Jewellery Collection
With its new Le Grand Tour high jewellery collection, Van Cleef & Arpels take collectors on a European getaway
Who hasn’t returned from a trip to Europe without a keepsake or two? It’s a tradition that has spanned generations, eras and continents. Mementoes of unforgettable moments in farflung places that might never be revisited. But thanks to these cherished objects the memories of those forays away from home can come flooding back to be relived in an instant with just a gentle caress of a bracelet, the pinning of a brooch or the reassuring weight of a necklace.
Now Van Cleef & Arpels has taken this sentimental tradition and elevated it with a high jewellery interpretation inspired by travel called Le Grand Tour. The name is a nod to a long-held tradition also known as Le Grand Tour, which first started in England in the 16th century but was at its height during the 18th and 19th centuries. A precursor, if you will, to the idea of a gap year, where the offspring of high society would take a year (or two) off after completion of their higher education to go explore the world – well, Europe – with a trip to the continent. A voyage that included stops in key cities like Paris, Rome, Venice, Naples, Florence and Baden-Baden. That way, after reading and learning about the world, the next generation of leaders could experience European culture, heritage and traditions first-hand, and eventually take those real-world learnings back with them, to inform the way they see, and move through, life.
“This high jewellery collection celebrates a tradition that has always fascinated us,” says Nicolas Bos, the CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. “Since its founding, the Maison has been fueled by its curiosity for other cultures, periods and forms of art.”
cultures, periods and forms of art.” The 70-strong collection is themed around eight of the cities that were traditional destinations on Le Grand Tour. Each one an inspiration for a series of pieces that use different touchstones like emblematic colours, architectural features and even regional flora to connect the exceptional craftsmanship of Van Cleef & Arpels’ artisans with a location. “This collection blends traditions of jewellery and decorative arts. We took inspiration from antique jewellery – Roman, Etruscan, Medieval or Renaissance – marrying it with our own heritage, style and craftsmanship,” explains Nicolas.
And yet as much as this high jewellery collection has done a deep dive into historical references, the pieces themselves have a light and utterly modern execution. Many of the one-of-a-kind designs have been created with adaptability in mind. Transformable so that the piece can be reimagined and used in a myriad of ways for all sorts of occasions. The perfect example of this is the tassel-style Fleuve De Glace sautoir of pearls, which was inspired by the Alps. The impressive piece can be disassembled to form two bracelets, two brooches and a shorter necklace, thus making it possible to incorporate a bit of Van Cleef & Arpels artistry into several different ensembles.
In a collection of singular stand-out pieces, the brooches merit a paragraph all their own. The Dea Eterna clip, inspired by a sculpture by Antonio Canova, features a diamond-covered female form, holding a gold pitcher. She is framed at the top by a vibrant oval-cut pink sapphire and stands on a bright blue lapis lazuli base, which itself is anchored by one luminescent grey pearl. The city of Rome alone inspired three unique brooches, each one an opportunity to show off the different skillsets of Van Cleef & Arpels’ craftsmen. The Laurier Impérial brooch is crafted in shades of blue (sapphires and lapis lazuli) and finished off with diamonds on petals of white gold and a stem of sculpted yellow gold. The Anfora clip is home to a red jasper intaglio that dates back to the 2nd century and is an ode to the art of the goldsmith, with yellow and rose gold appearing hammered or mirror-polished. And finally, the swirling Fresque Céleste clip looks to Roman baroque art as the starting point for a carved cabochon-cut sunny yellow citrine that was first carved between the 1st and 2nd centuries. The extraordinary stone is surrounded by curving clouds of diamonds and hammered gold.
Centuries ago the original Le Grand Tour was meant to be a cultural awakening of sorts. Today Van Cleef & Arpels has found a whole new way to entice and educate its clientele. Taking them on a high jewellery voyage that they will never want to return home from.
Images courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s October 2023 issue