Van Cleef & Arpels’s new Bouton d’or collection is inspired by the French luxury house’s heritage and said to be a “perfect symphony of jewellery”. 

Diamonds, gold, mother-of-pearl and hard stones come together in bold creations, born out of a unique expertise. From the choice of materials through to the intricately assembled motifs, each piece reflects all the virtuosity of Van Cleef & Arpels.

The Bouton d’or collection gives pride of place to the curved lines of a jewelry motif called ‘paillette’ created by the maison in the late 1930s. 

Reinterpreted today, it lends itself to multiple plays of associations, volume and colors, producing a style that is both graphic and feminine. 

Adorned with a diamond at their centres, these concave or convex elements are repeated to compose a necklace that hugs the neckline, a subtly asymmetric bracelet, earrings that seem to dance with each movement of the body, a three-dimensional ring and a generous pendant.

Characterised by bold associations of materials, the collection is made up of two sets of five pieces. Gently reflecting the light, pink gold magnifies the delicate overtones of mother-of-pearl and the warm hue of carnelian, a symbol of life. With their glittering centres, the motifs spread out across different levels, in triple rows or joyful circles.

In a more contrasted pairing, yellow gold accentuates the encounter between the rich, deep black color of onyx and chrysoprase, whose spring-like green suffuses the creations with a luminous vitality. Fringed with discretely mobile pastilles, two pieces combine rounded curves with the geometric purity of the lozenge, to adorn a finger or give shape to a pendant that can be transformed into a clip.

The Bouton d’or collection – which is as notable for its meticulous choice of materials as it is for its delicately matched motifs – expresses all the excellence of Van Cleef & Arpels. For the hard stones, the maison has been particularly attentive to the homogeneity and vivacity of their colour, to their luminosity (for chrysoprase) and their depth (for carnelian). The mother-of-pearl used offers a regular surface and a lustre of the highest quality, while its diamonds are selected according to the maison’s standards of excellence: D, E or F for colour, IF and VVS for clarity.

They thus enhance the beauty of materials that have themselves been hand polished to magnify their radiance. To ensure the complete harmony of each piece, the pastilles are carefully matched for colour, as well as for the opacity and overtones of their materials. When brought together to form a necklace, bracelet or ring, they compose a perfect symphony of jewellery, the house says.