The Fantastic World of Van Cleef & Arpels
The latest High Jewelry collection from the French maison is inspired by Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, transforming characters and myths from distant lands into one-of-a-kind pieces
In 1881, the first episode of the serial novel Treasure Island was published in the English children's magazine Young Folks going down in history as one of the most adapted literary works ever. From Peter Pan to Pirates of the Caribbean, it can be said that a good number of writers and set designers have drawn from Robert Louis Stevenson's rich source, a host of creatives now joined by the artisans and experts of the Parisian company founded just a quarter of a century after the book's release: 1906 to be precise.
What is imagined in the L'Ile au Trésor racontée par Van Cleef & Arpels collection is a fantastic voyage divided into three main chapters, interwoven with characters from the famous coming-of- age novel, maritime motifs such as knots and instruments used in navigation, iridescent shells, tropical flowers, majestic plants and palms, and lastly, figures inspired by the mythology of faraway places, of islands suspended between reality and dreams, from pre-Columbian splendors to the wonders of Asia.
Van Cleef & Arpels' latest High Jewelry collection draws inspiration from Stevenson's Treasure Island transforming subjects from the novel into one-of-a-kind pieces.
Legends and mysteries, fantasy and history are found in pieces of complex design, such as the series of brooches with evocative names: the God of Heaven and the God of the Wind, the Guardian of Palen- que brooch and others called the Mysterious Palm, Pirate Jim and Pirate John, through to the King of Uxmal. All in all, a high jewelry collection that is part of a broader project of the Maison, which, in the recent past, has archived other literary epics: Wil- liam Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet, Jules Verne's The Extraordinary Journeys, Charles Perrault's Peau d'Ane and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
What is imagined in the L'Ile au Trésor racontée par Van Cleef & Arpels collection is a fantastic voyage divided into three main chapters, interwoven with characters from the famous coming-of- age novel, maritime motifs such as knots and instruments used in navigation, iridescent shells, tropical flowers, majestic plants and palms, and lastly, figures inspired by the mythology of faraway places, of islands suspended between reality and dreams, from pre-Columbian splendors to the wonders of Asia.
Van Cleef & Arpels' latest High Jewelry collection draws inspiration from Stevenson's Treasure Island transforming subjects from the novel into one-of-a-kind pieces.
Legends and mysteries, fantasy and history are found in pieces of complex design, such as the series of brooches with evocative names: the God of Heaven and the God of the Wind, the Guardian of Palen- que brooch and others called the Mysterious Palm, Pirate Jim and Pirate John, through to the King of Uxmal. All in all, a high jewelry collection that is part of a broader project of the Maison, which, in the recent past, has archived other literary epics: Wil- liam Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet, Jules Verne's The Extraordinary Journeys, Charles Perrault's Peau d'Ane and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
