02 Sep 2021
The Frivole collection makes its own luminous contribution, with delicate and graphic flowers that seem to quiver beneath a breeze’s caress. In March 2021, six new creations in rose gold and diamonds unfurl their corollas. A pair of earrings, a pendant and a bracelet – all of them mini-models – punctuate the silhouette with glittering notes, while a Between the Finger ring, small-sized pendant and earrings light up the skin with a gentle gleam. Each jewel encapsulates the Maison’s savoir-faire. The art of expert gemologists, jewelers and stone-setters finds expression in the stone selection, openwork and settings, which together create an effect of brilliance.This year, rose gold offers its soft tones to the Frivole collection. Introduced on Frivole motifs for the first time in 2020, this warm shade illuminates the face, neckline and wrist with feminine style, in tune with a radiant nature.
The mini-model earrings form a delicate set with their matching pendant. It can be subtly complemented by a chain bracelet adorned with a single motif, that lightly accompanies every movement.
At the center and on the contour of each petal, a thin gold thread accentuates the glittering harmony created by the association of the precious metal with diamonds. With it, the celebration of graceful flora so dear to Van Cleef & Arpels comes into full bloom.
The three new creations – two in small models and a Between the Finger ring – extend the Frivole collection’s pure and luminous aesthetic. Delicate diamond setting heightens the gleam of rose gold, magnifying the brilliance of the slightly curved, heart-shaped petals that unfurl around a diamond pistil.
Like a burst of freshly bloomed flowers, the petals blossom on a pair of earrings and a pendant with a soft sheen. Their precious glitter is the result of grain setting, designed to pave the entire surface and optimize its brilliance.
A Between the Finger ring brings two different-sized flowers together around an open band. Their subtly inclined corollas and split-level positioning catch the light, which plays from one petal to another. Emblematic of the Van Cleef & Arpels style, the jewel’s asymmetry infuses it with a vitality that recalls nature’s awakening.
Light – always at the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels’ creative approach – brings the Frivole collection to life. To magnify its pieces, the Maison uses openwork: the perforation of the gold structure created by the jeweler, enabling light to pass through the diamonds.
Van Cleef & Arpels has also paid careful attention to the selection of the stones – whether a single diamond set in the heart of a corolla to trace a delicate pistil, or the round diamonds paved on the petals of the Frivole creations. The Maison’s expert gemologists have chosen stones that meet the most stringent criteria: D to F for color and IF to VVS for clarity.
The savoir-faire of jewelers, stone-setters and polishers come together to bring each creation to a peak of luminosity. Great attention to detail has been applied to both sides of the jewel. Delicately polished gold threads and bezels highlight the paved diamond surfaces, bringing them to life and underlining the graphic lines of the pieces. These various traditional techniques come together to magnify the Frivole creations, and in so doing pay tribute to the beauty of nature.
After first flowering in 1906 with the Maison’s foundation, the garden of Van Cleef & Arpels has continued to grow over the years. In tune with the seasons, the Maison transcribes flora in its infinite shades and forms, capturing the delicacy of a violet bouquet, the cheeriness of a cherry branch or the generosity of a peony.
Influenced by various artistic trends, Van Cleef & Arpels has created jewels that are alternately figurative or more stylized. Clips, earrings, pendants and rings outdo one another in freshness and vitality. Roses, cosmos and daisies echo the constant movement of nature and its perpetual metamorphoses. Captured in all their ephemeral beauty, the flowers are adorned with white gold and precious stones on evening jewelry, and with set yellow gold for daywear. Beginning in 2003, the Frivole collection and its luminous corollas have perpetuated this tradition focused on elegance.
Rose gold notably began being used on Van Cleef & Arpels’ creations in the 1920s – for decorated boxes – and then in the 1930s on Minaudière precious cases, modernist-inspired bracelets and watches. Over the years, rose gold has often appeared in combination with white and yellow gold, to create interplays of reflections and tones. These associations magnify the graphic effects and abstract motifs typical of the 1970s through to the 1990s. In the 2000s, this gold color – much-appreciated for its feminine luster – took on a larger role in the Maison’s jewelry and watchmaking collections, whether alone or paired with precious stones.
