Van Cleef & Arpels reinterprets its Rose de Noël collection
A timeless ode to nature’s beauty, hope and joy.
Springtime is most often associated with flowers that blossom in great abundance, but lesser known are winter blooms, adding a touch of life and hue to the wintry starkness. In essence, these cold-season florals symbolise renewal and the promise of spring, besides echoing resilience and the ability to thrive in harsher conditions, and the purity and peace of the season.
Always in tune with nature’s transformations, Van Cleef & Arpels taps into winter flowers to grace its jewellery garden with four new Rose de Noël creations this holiday season. They include two pendants and two pairs of earrings in grey mother-of-pearl and white gold, or turquoise and yellow gold.
Birthed in 1970, the Rose de Noël collection celebrates the vitality of the Christmas rose in the heart of winter. Embellishing each domed corolla, the design element of six cabochon petals arranged on different levels evokes a sense of movement as though coming alive in the breeze. The flower emanates a voluminous appearance in combination with subtly asymmetrical motifs, revealed in three dimensions. Its central structure comprises three discreetly raised and sparkling diamonds, lying within the pistil of fine gold strands placed at varied heights and angles.
To craft the yellow or white gold setting, the Maison wields the ancestral technique of lost-wax casting, followed by a process involving reworking, assembly and meticulous polishing — all done by hand by its craftsmen. Of course, the Rose de Noël collection will not be perfected sans the strict selection of gemstones, forged by the Maison over a hundred years of jewellery savoir-faire. The Maison’s Stone Department pays full attention to the stone’s proportions and quality so each petal can be bestowed with volume and relief.
Following a debut in coral and yellow gold, the Rose de Noël collection has expanded over the decades with vibrant variations, such as clips, earrings and Between the Finger rings adorned with turquoise, onyx or wood. For its latest iteration, grey mother-of-pearl, an organic material obtained from shells, is hand-picked for its uniform colour and soft iridescence ranging from green to pink. The collection’s other stone of choice, turquoise, formed by water passing through copper-rich rock, enlivens the pieces with its mesmerising tones from light to intense shades of blue.
From the selection steps, the stones are then cut in volume and polished to elevate their luminosity before being grouped into sets of six for pendants or twelve for earrings, based on chromatic homogeneity. Each floral emblem is illuminated by a trio of diamonds — only the highest quality D to F for colour and IF to VVS for clarity is used — perched at the centre. Whether lively turquoise set in radiant yellow gold or iridescent grey mother-of-pearl set in brilliant white gold, the gemstone-embellished jewels are a sight to behold.
Combining cabochon petals, gold and diamond pistils, and ornamental stones or organic materials, the Rose de Noël collection conjures the bohemian style in vogue in many artistic fields at the time and era of its conception. Its quintessence paying homage to Christmas roses which bloom in midwinter are promises of happiness serving to lift spirits and brighten the landscape — a reminder of nature’s enduring beauty, power and joy that Van Cleef & Arpels holds dear as its emblematic source of inspiration.
