LEGEND HAS IT

Take a trip down memory lane as Van Cleef Arpels revisits six glorious decades envisioned in pure diamond creations.

- SHAN LEE

Beyond any doubt, diamonds take the spotlight at Van Cleef & Arpels this year - more than ever before, as the French maison has dedicated not just one, but two major high jewellery collections to the king of gemstones. Making history with Legend of Diamonds, its latest oeuvre unveiled over two distinctive chapters, which demonstrates the maison's deep reverence for the stone and its wealth of expertise in making exceptional creations.

The first salvo made its debut at the Paris haute couture week, introducing jewellery lovers all over the world to a magnificent 910-carat rough diamond named the Lesotho Legend - a one-of-a-kind diamond that is perfect in every way: D colour, beautiful crystallisation, and chemically pure with incredible optical clarity. From it, Van Cleef & Arpels derived 67 spectacular diamonds of varying cuts and carats to produce 25 unique high jewellery pieces that make up Legend of Diamonds - 25 Mystery Set Jewels.

Van Cleef & Arpels' second act continues in Legend of Diamonds - White Diamond Variations, where 82 phenomenal high jewellery creations will take your breath away as they transport you through the decades down memory lane.

DIAMOND HERITAGE

Beginning with the 1920s Art Deco period, the maison traces the evolution of this iconic style, which in fact started out on a more naturalistic path before gradually embracing geometrical influences. This stylistic progression is showcased in the Floraison de Diamants white gold bracelet, whose sumptuous volumes are inspired by Van Cleef & Arpels' bandeaux bracelets of the '20s.

Using a variety of details and setting techniques - snow, rail, prong, festooned and closed, Van Cleef & Arpels endowed the piece with overlaying abstract and geometric shapes that would soon give rise to the graphical aesthetic that is so deeply emblematic of the Art Deco style.