White Wonders: Van Cleef & Arpels Master the Combination of White Gold and Diamonds

Glittering and graceful, these high jewellery masterpieces from Van Cleef & Arpels made with white gold and opalescent diamonds embody purity and the spirit of progress.

In 1895, Estelle Arpels, daughter of a precious stones dealer, married Alfred Van Cleef, son of a lapidary craftsman and diamond broker. The couple began their beautiful love story sharing the same values for family, the spirit of innovation and a passion for precious stones. In 1906, Alfred Van Cleef partnered with Estelle’s brothers to open the first Van Cleef & Arpels boutique at 22 Place Vendôme, and the rest is history.

Over a century later, Van Cleef & Arpels continues to delight the world with spectacular creations burgeoning with a strong sense of creativity and inventiveness. Among these creations are high jewellery collections that bring together a perfect union of white gold and white diamonds. From the Flowerlace and Snowflake Collections to the maison’s white diamond variations within the Legend of Diamonds Collection, these sparkling treasures showcase peerless savoir-faire.

When it comes to the Flowerlace High Jewellery Collection, the maison shares its unique vision of jewellery. With prodigious skill, master lapidaries select stones with meticulous attention to detail, choosing diamonds for their exceptional quality and the emotion it carries. By combining the delicate transparency of lace with the graceful silhouette of flowers, the Flowerlace High Jewellery Collection weds two of the maison’s key sources of inspiration: nature and couture. The result is emblems of ultimate femininity, embodying effortless class and elegance.

From the warmth of spring to the cool of winter, the Snowflake Collection reflects the maison’s keenness to remain in tune with the seasons, celebrating the wonder of nature through poetic creations. Over several decades, Van Cleef & Arpels has reinterpreted the “flocon” or snowflake motif first introduced in the 1940s. The latest additions to the Snowflake Collection include two transformable necklaces and two clips.

In an homage to the world of couture, the Snowflake collection presents an ethereal Claudine collar adorned with snowflake motifs. The openwork setting echoes delicate lace as it gracefully caresses neckline contours. The pendant detaches to be worn alone, as a pendant on a chain. Meanwhile, the Snowflake transformable necklace wears up to nine different ways. With discreet fastenings, various elements can form three bracelets and six types of necklaces. Twin half-moon motifs at each side link these delicate streams of diamonds, granting articulation that allows it to hug the wrist or neck like freshly fallen snow.

The Snowflake clip and pendant offer a bejewelled interpretation of a snowflake. Precious snow crystals appear to bloom from the core of a diaphanous star. The design takes inspiration from the maison’s 1948 Cristaux de neige clip, worn beautifully on a jacket lapel or a chain as a pendant. Meanwhile, the Snowflake bow clip recalls the couture-inspired models by Van Cleef & Arpels in the 1930s. The white gold openwork evokes the lightness of precious fabrics as this Snowflake clip traces a bow in platinum and diamonds. The three-dimension asymmetric piece may adorn an outfit or hairdo like a ribbon of light.

Although nature boasts many sparkling wonders, Van Cleef & Arpels openly embraces the beauty of manufactured marvels with equal enthusiasm. The Legend of Diamonds curates white diamond variations of magnificent splendour. Inspired by the Roaring Twenties and the geometric shapes of the Art Deco movement, Van Cleef & Arpels presents the Chrysler earrings. Thoughtfully echoing one of New York City’s most famous skyscrapers, the earrings feature rows of round and pear-shaped diamonds on four tiers. Slightly articulated and entirely openwork, light reflects on the stones as it does against iconic superstructures.

The white wonders continue in the Fabulous Fifties necklace, which pays homage to the glamour of that decade. The necklace’s fully articulated openwork structure offers lightness and comfort on the neck. The design features round, square, calibrated, and baguette-cut diamonds set using the rail, closed, half-closed, and grain setting techniques. The necklace showcases the labour of love from the maison’s Mains d’Or or virtuoso craftspeople. At the heart of the central motif, an emerald cut DIF Type 2A diamond of 10.06 carats plays with the light, allowing it to pass through its pure and finely crystallised material. The stone’s cut exhibits “tennis court” proportions, giving the stone a lovely harmony between length and width.

The Vagues Étincelantes necklace in the Legend of Diamonds collection reflects the reticella collars worn since the Renaissance. The reticella, or ruff, is a needle lace that was popular at the time and over the following three centuries. The Vagues Étincelantes adapts its silhouette from the Médicis necklace, created by the maison in 1937 – soon appearing at the International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Paris.

With a concave structure, the Vagues Étincelantes necklace evokes a sparkling wave. It was a challenge for the maison’s craftspeople to achieve the dimensions, overcome through discreet articulations to allow flexibility when worn. On the choker, vertical rows of diamonds follow one another to create a spectacular ensemble. At the tips, briolettes are suspended like droplets, stirring with every movement. The necklace thus rests gently on the skin like a foam of diamonds. No matter the root of inspiration, Van Cleef and Arpels captures the imagination with uniquely emotive diamond creations that honour the purest love story of its founders through these sparkling white wonders.