Van Cleef & Arpels has added five pieces to the Frivole jewelry collection, including a bracelet with seven flowers in white gold, a Between the Finger ring in rose gold, and a ring with eight flowers featuring a dialogue between rose gold and white gold. The Maison’s savoir-faire, ranging from the selection and combination of diamonds to mirrored polishing, showcases these sparkling corollas, which illuminate the skin with their sunny brilliance, in a very poetic tribute to the warm weather season.
A garland of flowers on the wrist
This year, the delicate and graphic flowers of the Frivole collection bloom on the bracelet of seven flowers in white gold, shimmering with around three hundred diamonds. Selected according to the strictest criteria, the gemstones shine in unison, gleaming intensely against the skin. The asymmetrical design and the inclination of the heart-shaped curved petals echo the vitality of nature.
Sparkling bouquets
For the first time in the Frivole collection, an eight-flower ring poetically combines rose gold and white gold with diamonds. Five flowers in white gold, each meticulously positioned at different heights and paved with diamonds, converse with three flowers in rose gold accentuated by a central stone. The virtuosity of the Maison’s craftsmen is embodied by how the eight flowers are mounted on the ring, adorning the finger with a three-dimensional bouquet. The rose gold with mirrored polishing intensifies the play of lights and reflections, as if the ring were shining in the sunlight.
A radiant jewelry set
For this year, the Frivole collection reveals a new aesthetic of rose gold interspersed with diamonds. The corollas reveal the soft tones of this precious metal in a pendant with a new size and earrings that impart a warm glow to the silhouette. One of the new creations, the Between the Finger ring, presents a subtle tête-à-tête between two flowers in rose gold with mirrored polishing. The asymmetry of the motifs continues in the diamond settings, with one stone set in the heart of the smaller flower and three in the larger one. The carefully selected diamonds, placed at the center of the motifs, complement the numerous reflections of the gold with mirrored polishing. Like freshly bloomed flowers, these new creations are precious additions to any ensemble and can be mixed and matched to suit any mood.
Savoir-faire in the service of brilliance
Perpetuating the Maison’s tradition of excellence, multiple forms of know-how are combined to bring the Frivole creations to life and infuse them with brilliance and intensity. Mirrored polishing, a Van Cleef & Arpels signature technique since the 1920s, is meticulously handcrafted on all pieces of the collection to accentuate their magical shine. The virtuoso hands of the craftsmen ensure that light flows unobstructed over the creations, which gleam against the skin.
Reflecting the Maison‘s high standards and taste for gemstones, diamonds are chosen according to the highest criteria: D to F for color, and IF to VVS for clarity. The gemstones undergo a double selection process, simultaneously scientific and specific to Van Cleef & Arpels, based on over a hundred years of experience. The mounting is meticulously crafted by the jeweler to ensure that the precious metal is properly prepared to receive the diamonds. Openings are made in the bracelet of seven flowers and in the ring of eight flowers to allow light to pass through the gemstones and intensify their brilliance.
The enchanting nature of Van Cleef & Arpels
The first flower in the Maison‘s garden bloomed in 1907, on the Marguerite brooch. The theme of bouquets emerged in the 1920s, represented in art pieces with jewelry. Set with diamonds or colored stones, voluminous corollas appeared in the 1930s, joined by a precious ribbon and sometimes accentuated by large and dazzling leaves in gold with mirrored polishing. Jewelry sets and beauty accessories, such as Minaudières, evoked countryside nature and verdant gardens to celebrate the freshness of flora. Enchanted by these endless metamorphoses, Van Cleef & Arpels recreated its infinite shades and shapes in figures such as ox-eye daisies, primroses, and common daisies.
The Maison‘s floral creations, often figurative, also stand out for their more graphic aesthetic. Over the decades, brooches, earrings, rings, bracelets, and pendants illustrated the technical innovations and stylistic evolutions of Van Cleef & Arpels. This wealth of jewelry interpretations gave rise to heart-shaped petals, introduced in the 1940s on cigarette cases and pillboxes, and then on a Trèfle brooch in 1954. With their corollas in polished gold or paved with diamonds, the Frivole creations are part of this creative tradition of beauty and harmony since 2003.
An artistically fresh collaboration
French artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet, a friend of the Maison since 2020, imagined a colorful and poetic world to present the Frivole collection. The illustrator conceived a green setting to accompany the dawn of spring where slender flowers dialogue with three-dimensional decorative elements, such as balustrades and vases, which adorn, notably, the shop windows and boutiques. The gaze delights in the animated pencil strokes of the artist, evoking cheerful motifs in a composition of vibrant colors.
