24 Aug Van Cleef & Arpels Perlee additions in Galerie
For centuries, gold beads have been an often used yet under celebrated element in jewelry design—the stylish yet quiet sibling to the bright sparkling stars of the sartorial show. A visionary at Van Cleef & Arpels recognized the innate power of this diminutive understudy over a century ago, pulled it out of the proverbial shadows and introduced luminous golden orbs of various sizes into the creation of legendary collections including Couscous, Bagatelle, Twist, and Alhambra. These were the wildly successful precursors to the creation, six years ago, of the Perlée (“beadâ€) an official range of jewelry designs where golden beads are the star.
This season, the Maison announced a generous expansion of Perlée offerings with the introduction of 18 new jewelry designs and eight watches, which will be available September 1 both online and in boutiques. The collection harnesses the power of numbers, namely dozens of individually cast and meticulously hand-set gold beads combined with precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones to create an often tapestry-like textural effect. Perlée five-row rings, for example, feature diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds set in an asymmetric stripe amongst a sea of shimmering gold orbs in white, yellow, or rose gold. See the new pieces here.