Van Cleef and Arpels partner with Benjamin Navet

last updated 18 May 2020

When first researching his upcoming collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels following his 2017 winning success at the Grand Prix Design Parade Toulon (an event sponsored by the Parisian jeweller), Alexandre Benjamin Navet found surprising synergies between the brand and his own work. Both Van Cleef & Arpels and Navet – who trained in industrial design – place outmost importance on the art of drawing, and the jeweller's history of crafting floral-themed treasures goes well with Navet oft-visited theme of vases. "I did a lot of research for this project, studying and gathering material", says Navet. "The idea was to present flowers in bloom, but also the colours that come to life in spring. My palette is already rich, but I really expanded it to create drawings that are both a personal signature and the fruit of this collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels. It’s a dialogue, an exchange, a conversation". The result of their partnership can soon be admired in Van Cleef & Arpels' boutiques – including its London Bond Street address – as Navet's sketchbook-like, oil-pastel flora and fauna grows freely from curved sculptures positioned in shop-windows and soon also across furnishings. "I wanted to create the illusion that they had appeared in the windows during the night as if by magic. It reminds me of that wonderful moment in spring when you find yourself looking at a garden covered in dew, with flowers that have just bloomed".