Van Cleef & Arpels' Treasure Island collection

Unveiled annually, Van Cleef & Arpels' high jewellery collections have in the past paid tribute to important works of literature. Fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm or Charles Perrault, plays by William Shakespeare, and Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires series have all shaped jewellery made in the heritage brand's Paris workshop near Place Vendôme.

Treasure Island draws from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel of the same name, which was published in 1883. The high jewellery collection is grouped into a trio of chapters, following an imagined journey from land to island, crossing seas in between, to finally unearth a treasure hoard of jewellery.

"The collection follows a narrative," explains Catherine Rénier, the brand's CEO since September this year. "These three chapters are the three main moments of Stevenson's book, of his characters and their journey," she adds.

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Creatively, nature, adventure and seafaring are all themes that resonate with Van Cleef & Arpels and its heritage. In the company's archives, rare holdings include a 1906 scale model of the Varuna yacht, a private order finished in yellow gold with white, red and green enamel and placed atop a cut of jasper carved to resemble waves; fish-shaped jewels; and a cigarette case with anchor and boat motifs.

"I love that as a jeweller, we are also able to create these fantastic objects, which is part of our history," says Rénier, describing Onde Mystérieuse, a round box with a base made from blue quartz and with a hammered white gold rim. Onde Mystérieuse forms part of The Boat Journey, the collection's opening chapter.

The box's relief lid depicts a shoal of fish sculpted in white and rose gold, placed against a seascape drawn in paillonné enamel, named after a technique famed for its many translucent layers, and near a diamond pavé-set watch dial. A duo of detachable clips – one dotted with sapphires and diamonds, the other with blue tourmalines, diamonds and sapphires – complete the creation. "It's a beautiful object," says Rénier.

Imagining an ocean crossing, the first chapter also comprises designs that nod to sailor's knots, crushing waves and navigational instruments. There are billowing sails expressed in white diamonds, and a trio of pirates.

With an emerald-cut sapphire of 55.34 carats for a centre stone, the En Haute Mer necklace is made up of yellow and white gold ropes, worked to a heritage technique first perfected in the 1940s. "Goldsmithing is one of the key techniques that we revisited with this year's collection," Rénier analyses.

Next up: The Exploration of the Island. The collection's second chapter imagines what one might come across on an unexplored tropical island. Rarely spotted flora and fauna might include a small turtle – imagined by the jeweller's design team with a white gold shell cloaked in blue oval sapphires – palm trees and seashells.

A white and yellow gold Coquilles Mystérieuses bracelet is assembled from seashell shapes, placed in one neat line and coloured with white diamonds and blue sapphires.

"Why this book? Well, first of all because there is closeness between its story and the very magical world of Van Cleef & Arpels," Rénier explains. "Then, there are its themes of discovery, adventure and nature, from the sea to the island. And of course there is the treasure of jewels that the pirates are hiding."

That treasure, the brand's designer, makers and specialists created for the collection's third chapter. Here, the unearthed trunk reveals pieces inspired by different cultures and ancestral techniques. Two yellow

and white gold clips, Dieu Du Vent and Dieu Du Ciel, pay homage to Mayan mythology; the yellow gold Figuras bracelet is composed of medallions. Each coin-like shape is set with white diamonds to make up faces, a reference to the figurines that the Olmecs, the earliest known Mesoamerican civilisation, offered to the gods.

Lavender-hued jadeite beads – 31 in total – are matched with rubies and rose gold, with elements shaped to resemble lanterns, in Lanternes Mystérieuses, a transformable necklace. "This is where we allow ourselves to go further, to delve deeper into our universe and enrich it," Rénier says of Van Cleef & Arpels' high jewellery collections. "It's the haute couture of the maison, the essence of who we are, how we were born, and the heart of our know-how."

vancleefarpels.com

Good to know

Van Cleef & Arpels patented its Mystery Setting in 1933. Labour-intensive, the technique is a near-invisible means of inserting custom-cut precious stones into gold rails. Mystery Setting features across the Treasure Island collection, notably in the Écume Mystérieuse necklace, a take on marine genre painting with many Mystery Set sapphires.