Rock Star

Van Cleef & Arpels' acquisition of a massive 910-carat rough diamond yielded 67 finished stones the best of which were transformed into its new high-jewellery collection.

- Paige Reddinger

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS is no stranger to monumental stones. From the 90 brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling 115 carats, set in a necklace for Princess Fawzia of Egypt in the late 1930s to the 34.64-carat pink Princie diamond (said to have once been owned by the ruling nizams of Hyderabad) acquired by the house in 1960, the company’s history is full of headline-grabbing jewels. Now, meet the newest: a mammoth 910-carat Type IIA D-Colour white diamond rough from South Africa’s Letšeng mine, dubbed the Lesotho Legend, which served as the building block for the Parisian jeweller’s latest high jewellery collection.