The world of Alhambra jewellery by Van Cleef & Arpels is a wide one. The four leaf clover-shaped designs, meant as emblems of good luck and positivity, have been a hit since the Parisian house introduced it in 1968. Over the years, the collection has grown and expanded, becoming a language of its own for both the inducted and aspiring.
A taste of the collection’s varied vernacular: Vintage, Pure, Magic or Sweet Alhambra? The differences are chiefly in the size of the clover motifs. Vintage hews closest to the sweet-spot proportions and details of the 1968 original; Pure runs a little larger with smooth, flat surfaces; Sweet is the daintiest and smallest; and Magic Alhambra is the largest, statement-sized version. There’s a numerical order too: one, two, three, four, five, six, 10, 11, 12, 16 or 20 motifs?
Then there’s the question of pieces set with ornamental stones or all-gold designs, with or without diamonds. In the realm of ornamental stones, Alhambra pieces are crafted and set with white or grey mother-of-pearl, carnelian, onyx, malachite, chalcedony, tiger eye, turquoise and lapis lazuli. In full gold, there are a number of finishes that adorn each clover: the open-worked style of the Byzantine Alhambra, rare hammered gold; and the radiant geometry of guilloché gold.
As dizzyingly varied as the Alhambra collection is, it is nevertheless a thrill when Van Cleef & Arpels introduces ever more options to the lineup. This year, that comes in the form of luminous blue agate stones meeting the radiance of guilloché gold.
Blue agate is one of the more exciting, unmissable colours in the Alhambra range. It was first used by the maison in 1989, but it is one of the more undersung stones. A variety of translucent chalcedony, the brand selects and matches its examples of blue agate very strictly to ensure an intensity and consistency of colour, and delicately polishes the stones to achieve a luminous surface lustre.
Guilloché, meanwhile, is a traditional finishing technique—more often found in watchmaking—that Van Cleef & Arpels has used since the 1910s on its timepieces; the 1930s on precious lifestyle objects like cases, powder boxes and minaudières; and since 2018 on Alhambra pieces on the occasion of the collection’s 50th anniversary.
Two new designs debut this month combining blue agate and guilloché. The first is a Vintage Alhambra reversible ring with two different faces. On one side, guilloché yellow gold set with a diamond at its centre; and on the other, blue agate—both motifs set on a single rotating clover on a ring made up of three rows of golden perlée beads. It is only the second reversible Alhambra ring in the range, the first being a carnelian and rose gold guilloché model introduced in 2023.
The second novelty is a Sweet Alhambra watch made up of nine blue agate and guilloché clovers, with the watch mechanism fitted into a larger motif. The process of crafting this creation is made up of fifteen distinct steps, from selecting the rough stone, pairing and matching the cut agates, gem-setting, and casing the movement and dial of the watch into a diminutive clover—an enchanting marriage of fine jewellery and watches.
