New Frivole flowers bloom at Van Cleef & Arpels
Every year, as nature blooms anew, Van Cleef & Arpels pays it a poetic tribute. In 2024, five radiant pieces will be joining the Frivole jewellery collection, including a white gold 7-flower bracelet, a Between the Finger ring in rose gold, and an 8-flower ring that presents a dialogue between rose and white gold
The Maison’s savoir-faire – from selecting and matching the diamonds to the mirror polishing – showcases these sparkling corollas, which illuminate the skin with their sunny glow. This year, the Frivole collection’s delicate, graphic flowers bloom on the white gold 7-flower bracelet with grace, glittering with close to three hundred diamonds. Selected according to the most stringent criteria, the gemstones shine in unison, gleaming intensely against the skin. The asymmetric design and the tilt of the curved heart-shaped petals echo the vitality of nature.
Glittering bouquets
For the first time in the Frivole collection, an 8-flower ring poetically pairs rose and white gold with diamonds. Five white gold flowers, each meticulously positioned at different heights and paved with diamonds, dialogue with three rose gold ones accented by a central stone. The virtuosity of the Maison’s artisans is incarnated by the way in which the eight flowers are assembled on the ring, adorning the finger with a three-dimensional bouquet. Mirror-polished rose gold intensifies the interplay of light and reflections, as if the ring were sparkling in the sunlight.
A radiant jewellery set
This year, the Frivole collection reveals a new aesthetic of rose gold interspersed with diamonds. The corollas unfurl the soft shades of this precious metal on a pendant featuring a new size and earrings that cast a warm glow on the silhouette. One of the new creations, a Between the Finger ring, presents a subtle tête-à-tête between two mirror-polished rose gold flowers. The asymmetry of the motifs continues in the diamond settings, with one stone set in the heart of the smallest flower and three on the largest.
The carefully selected diamonds set at the centre of the motifs blend harmoniously with the myriad reflections of the mirror-polished gold. Like freshly blooming flowers, these new creations are precious additions to any set, and can be combined to suit any mood.
Savoir-faire
Perpetuating the Maison’s tradition of excellence, multiple forms of knowhow combine to bring the Frivole creations to life and infuse them with shine and intensity. The mirror polish — a Van Cleef & Arpels signature technique since the 1920s — is carefully performed by hand on each piece in the Frivole collection to enhance its radiance.
Reflecting the Maison’s high standards and taste in gemstones, the diamonds are chosen according to the highest criteria: D to F for colour, and IF to VVS for clarity. The precious stones undergo a twofold selection process, both scientific and specific to Van Cleef & Arpels, based on over a hundred years of expertise.
The mount is meticulously worked by the jeweller to ensure the precious metal is correctly prepared to receive the diamonds. Openings are cut into the 7‑flower bracelet and 8-flower ring to let light pass through the gemstones and intensify their sparkle.
The first flower in the Maison’s garden bloomed in 1907 on the Marguerite brooch. The theme of bouquets emerged in the 1920s, depicted in bejewelled tableaux. Set with diamonds or coloured stones, voluminous corollas unfurled in the 1930s, united by a precious ribbon and occasionally accentuated by dazzling large leaves in mirror-polished gold.
Jewellery sets and beauty accessories, such as Minaudières, evoked countryside nature and verdant gardens to celebrate the freshness of flora. Filled with wonder at these endless metamorphoses, Van Cleef & Arpels recreated its infinite shades and shapes in the form of ox-eye daisies, primroses, and common daisies.
The Maison’s often figurative floral creations are also distinguished by their more graphic aesthetics. Over the decades, clips, earrings, rings, bracelets, and pendants have illustrated Van Cleef & Arpels’ technical innovations and stylistic evolutions. This wealth of jewellery interpretations gave rise to heart-shaped petals, introduced in the 1940s on cigarette cases and pill boxes, then on a Trèfle clip in 1954. With their polished gold or diamond-paved corollas, the Frivole creations have been part of this creative tradition of beauty and harmony since 2003.
An artistic collaboration imbued with freshness
French artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet, a friend of the Maison since 2020, has imagined a colourful and poetic world to showcase the Frivole collection. The illustrator has designed a verdant setting to accompany the dawning of spring in which slender flowers stand alongside three-dimensional decorative elements like balustrades and vases that adorn store windows and boutiques notably. The eye delights in the artist’s spirited pencil strokes, which conjure up sprightly motifs in a vibrantly coloured composition.
