Exploring Van Cleef & Arpels' New High Jewellery Collection
The Le Grand Tour collection finds inspiration in the great voyages that altered the artistic and cultural European landscape from the 16th century.
Long before the era of Google search and TikTok content, the way of discovering worldly treasures was through physical exploration. The 16th century saw the birth of the concept of the Grand Tour, when aristocrats (and later, artists and intellectuals) would take across the European continent to broaden their knowledge, which they would be able to carry with them and share with the rest of society.
In 1910, French Poet André Suarès published Le Voyage du Condottière, following his journey across Italy, as he explored Italian cultural hubs such as Naples, Venice, and Florence, and studied various Renaissance masters like Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci. These grand expeditions changed the artistic and cultural landscape of Europe, ushering in new ideas and understandings of the world that would continue to shape society.
For its latest high jewellery collection, Van Cleef & Arpels interprets its own Grand Tour, proving that the journey itself was also a work of art.
Since its founding, Van Cleef & Arpels has been inspired by traveling — being informed by other cultures and carrying an open mind to better fuel the imagination. The new and aptly titled "Le Grand Tour" high jewellery collection uniquely directly highlights this core foundation of Van Cleef & Arpels, though crafted in modern fashion.
"The collection is multi-dimensional. It blends the traditions of jewellery and decorative arts — such objects were brought back as souvenirs from the Grand Tour — with the idea of once again discovering and mixing periods and cultures," said Nicolas Bos, president and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, in a statement. "For that, we followed the trail of our predecessors and chose cities that were renown stops historically. We took inspiration from antique jewellery — Roman, Etruscan, Medieval, or Renaissance — marrying it with our own heritage, style, and craftsmanship. The result is like a colorful sketchbook that invites you to dive into destinations and gemstones."
All the stops were taken in the creation of this approximately 70-piece collection, breathing life into Le Grand Tour through the highest level of savoir-faire. The high jewellery collection can be best described as a merger between jewellery and art, executed with the utmost intricate detail.
Each piece is inspired by a different tour destination — a fluid sapphire necklace evoking London-found Wedgewood porcelain, radiant rubellite earrings mirroring chandeliers found in the Parisian ladies-in-waiting Court's, a sculpted tourmaline necklace reminiscent of the Alps snow-capped landscapes, a striking turquoise cabochon necklace reflective of the waters of Venice.
Other inspired destinations include Florence, Rome, Baden-Baden, and Naples, all of which have equally breathtaking accompanying jewellery. Furthering the already exquisite nature of Le Grand Tour were numerous uses of rare gemstones, as precious as the art the high jewellery collection was inspired by.
The craftsmanship, the details, the inspiration — the collection in its entirety (from start to end) takes you on a worldly and wonderous journey. Simply put, as stated, it's "an invitation to dream and escape."
