Which milestone has been most significant in the 14-year history of the Perlée collection?
The introduction of the Perlée bracelet. I like the design. It pairs easily with other bracelets and is playful. The first bracelet we made for the Perlée collection was from the Signature line, featuring a calligraphed signature by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Our next design featured small diamond-set Alhambra motifs. We eventually made them in different colours of gold, with or without diamonds. Three or four of them together look exquisite and chic to me.
Which is your favourite new design?
The Perlée couleurs rings. Honestly, they look even nicer worn as pairs on a finger. Each ring is set with a different hard stone, making them unique in personality and style. I spent half an hour creating different pairings! Imagine stacking four to five bracelets on one hand and wearing two rings on the other. It’s the perfect look on a beach in the South of France.
These new Perlée pieces emphasise ornamental stones that are an essential aspect of our creative DNA. We started using hard stones in the 1970s. At the time, it was a trend to own a jewellery set with such stones. The Alhambra collection, which turned 50 a few years ago, features many of these stones. It’s a collection that truly celebrates the natural beauty of ornamental stones.
People still refer to them as “semi-precious” stones, which is unfortunate. How do you feel about that?
That’s true. Many people wonder why they are rare or precious because they see them everywhere. As an example, lapis lazuli is available throughout Asia.
However, if you look at the lapis lazuli that Van Cleef & Arpels uses, you’ll see the difference in quality. Our stones reflect a deep blue with minimal flecks of evenly distributed, glinting yellow pyrite and no visible traces of calcite. There aren’t many examples like these, which explains why the Alhambra lapis lazuli jewellery set has a long waiting list.
It is also important to take good care of ornamental stones. You might be able to go swimming with a piece of onyx jewellery, but when you wear jewellery set with malachite, you should stay away from water and chemicals, otherwise the stone will lose its lustre. It’s the same with turquoise, which might change colour after regular contact with perfumes and creams. That’s why we apply a thin layer of protection to our turquoise stones.
For the first time, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are included in the Perlée collection. What prompted this move?
Our current boutiques carry white jewellery with diamonds, high jewellery, and collections like Perlée and Alhambra. There aren’t too many other products in between. When a client walks in and asks for a diamond ring, we can offer a diamond-set Alhambra ring.
If he doesn’t like that, he can also choose something from the Snowflake collection, which is part of our high jewellery range. As a result of client requests to fill the gap in our product offerings, the Perlée collection has been expanded to include gemstones such as emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.
Is this something we can expect in the Alhambra collection as well?
The Alhambra offers a myriad of possibilities. There is already an Alhambra with diamond pavé, so why not do one with emerald pavé? Yes, it is possible! Even if I gave you all the possibilities that we could try, you would still come up with another one within a few minutes.
How do the two new Perlée watches fit into Van Cleef & Arpels’ watchmaking plans?
The two watches you mentioned follow different paths. The secret watch is more like a piece of jewellery. We’ve made many secret watches, most of which were high jewellery creations. Yes, they tell the time; they were launched at a watch fair; but when you wear them, they look more like jewellery than watches.
Secret watches have a long history at Van Cleef & Arpels. In the past, elegant ladies did not wear watches. They would leave an event when bored and stay when they were having fun. To give ladies an idea of the time, we hid these watches in pendants and bracelets during the 1920s.
The Perlée watch is our way of re-entering the market with a trendy model, like we did 14 years ago with Charms.
Red-carpet events show that men love bling. Do you see men wearing the new Perlée pieces?
It’s rare to see men wearing high jewellery unless it’s to an event like the Met. Do I see a man in his 40s or 50s buying a high jewellery necklace for himself? No. I would wear a diamond clip to a black-tie event, but that’s about it. As for jewellery with ornamental stones, like those from Perlée, absolutely.
Perlée’s roots can be traced back to the 1970s, when men already wore bracelets, gold chains, and pendant necklaces. The Zodiaque pendant necklaces were very popular with men as well. Eventually, jewellery lost its appeal among them, but now it’s making a comeback. I would wear the Perlée bangle and hard stones; there is a future for men wearing this kind of jewellery.
