STYLE Edit: Van Cleef & Arpels adds 6 new Alhambra pieces – five guilloché white gold jewellery items and the Sweet Alhambra watch for winter, all boasting the brand’s iconic four-leafed clover motif

Dec 5 , 2022

Van Cleef & Arpels has been creating stunning jewellery pieces since its founding in Paris in 1906. Photos: Van Cleef & Arpels

Beloved by the luxury jeweller since its founding in 1906, the four-leaf clover motif also features in the ceramics and Byzantine-era gardens of the Alhambra palace in Spain

Now, 5 new pieces in guilloché white gold – a necklace, bracelet, pendant, ring and earrings – as well as a Sweet Alhambra watch in rose gold, have been added to Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest collection

As the ultimate symbol of good fortune, the four leafed clover has played a pivotal role in the history of Van Cleef & Arpels since the beginning. Not only does it appear in the archives of the Parisian luxury jeweller dating back to 1906, the year it was founded – but it was also an abiding obsession of Jacques Arpels, nephew of co-founder Estelle Arpels, who would pick the clovers from the back garden of his home in the countryside near Paris and give them to employees. “To be lucky, you must believe in luck,” he liked to say.

The new jewellery additions to the Alhambra collection come in guilloché white gold with a sunburst pattern, like on this five motifs Vintage Alhambra bracelet.

Then, in 1968, a collection was born that immortalised the clover as perhaps the most instantly recognisable motif of all on Van Cleef & Arpels’ jewellery creations. Named after the Alhambra palace in southern Spain, a masterpiece of Islamic architecture featuring Byzantine quatrefoil motifs similar in shape to the clover, the collection was an instant hit. Perfect for special occasions but with a refreshing informality that means it can also be worn during other moments, it quickly became a favourite of celebrities from Elizabeth Taylor to Princess Grace of Monaco.

References to the four-leafed clover design dates back to the early days of Van Cleef & Arpels in the early 1900s.

Over the years, the Alhambra collection has gradually grown with a range of capsule collections, and this winter it has gained five new pieces in guilloché white gold, as well as a new Sweet Alhambra watch in rose gold. The jewellery pieces – a long necklace, a bracelet, a pendant, a ring and a pair of earrings – all showcase a textured sunburst pattern created using the guilloché technique, which Van Cleef & Arpels has been using since the 1910s, initially on watch dials and then across its boxes, powder cases and minaudières.

The new Sweet Alhambra watch comes in rose gold and features another key element of the Alhambra collection: delicate beading.

The pieces also encompass another key element of the Alhambra aesthetic, with silver beads around the edge and in the centre of each of the clover motifs. The same beading also distinguishes the new Sweet Alhambra watch, which comes with two rows of beads around its case, surrounding a clover shaped mother-of-pearl dial, alongside a bracelet that’s also made entirely of beads. For everyone who believes in luck, they’re essential additions this winter.

Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.