Haute Joaillerie: Van Cleef & Arpels sets course for Treasure Island

For its new high jewelry collection, Van Cleef & Arpels has chosen to draw inspiration from the world of pirates and buccaneers. Soberly entitled Treasure Island, the collection pays homage to Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel of the same name, a book that has lulled the childhoods of millions of people.

Is Le Luxe suffering from Peter Pan syndrome?

At least, that’s what we’re entitled to wonder when we see Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest haute joaillerie collection. With its Treasure Island collection, the famous Place Vendôme jeweler conjures up childhood memories of a luxury clientele enamored of adventure, fearless pirates, proud ships ploughing the waves and treasures buried on a desert island.

In all, 125 pieces of 300 jewels play with the symbols associated with piracy and the famous adventure novel published in 1883: from South Sea turtles to the famous but perilous Mysterious Island, via sails carried by the sea breeze.

When it comes toliterary inspiration, Van Cleef & Arpels is no novice: other collections devoted to Jules Verne and the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers and Charles Perrault have appeared previously.

A collection as magical as it is regressive

The idea that the luxury object is, in many ways, a toy for adults, has never seemed more true than with this Treasure Island collection.

Van Cleef Arpels Stevenson — © Van Cleef & Arpels

Among the 125 works of 300 jewels, the Palmier Mystérieux clip alone sums up the whole purpose of this new literary-inspired collection.

An authentic variation on a 1940sMaison archive piece, this brooch depicts two palm trees on a desert island, their trunks sculpted in rose gold and set with calibrated emeralds. In the manner of children’s stories, a diamond-encrusted boat, a miniature gold treasure chest adorned with rubies and sapphires, or even a hammered and chased gold setting sun can be added to the horizon. The clip and three complementary motifs are sold as a set.