Each major jewelry house has its own talismans.
Many of the brand symbols have turned into truly iconic jewelry that do not lose their relevance today. Some of the most striking are the Cartier panther, the Van Cleef & Arpels quatrefoil and the Chanel camellia. Advertising - Continued below
History of the creation of the legend
The four-leaf clover symbol first appeared in the works of Van Cleef & Arpels in 1968. Then the world saw the Alhambra collection - romantic sautoirs with plant motifs. It is still produced and sold to this day.
The Alhambra is an amazing place with a famous history. This is the name of the garden, park and palace complex of the Nasrid dynasty of the 11th century, which inspired Van Cleef & Arpels designers to create a new collection. They took the main element of the ornament as a basis: a four-leaf flower can be seen in mosaics, decoration of doors and windows, bas-reliefs and fountains of the complex.
In the same 1968, the Alhambra collection went on sale at Le Boutique in Paris, which was opened not far from the brand’s flagship salon on Place Vendôme. Parisians were delighted with the new decoration. The first collection was followed by another, and soon the four-leaf clover became the symbol of Van Cleef & Arpels. The brand began to produce not only sautoirs, but also earrings, necklaces, and bracelets with the same design.
Cartier mascot - panther
The panther, a symbol of freedom and independence, feminine strength and magnetism, became the mascot of the French jewelry house Cartier in 1914. And almost immediately it acquired the status of the company’s “aesthetic code”.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the main symbolic meaning of the panther was fearlessness. Powder compacts, cigarette cases, boxes and handbags were decorated with a stylized image of the animal. A little later, the panther appeared on jewelry and watches.
Cartier watch, designed to look like a panther
The first piece of Cartier jewelry based on the brand's mascot was a watch with a black and white onyx and diamond pattern in the shape of a spotted panther skin.
In 1925, the author of a series of illustrations for the book “Mowgli,” Paul Jouvet, created an iconic sketch of a wild cat for the brand, which began to appear on a wide variety of company products.
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In the 30s, Jeanne Toussaint, the head of the brand’s jewelry direction, who was dubbed the “Magnificent Panther” by Parisian society, took on the task of unlocking the potential of the panther sign. Thanks to the brilliant work of Toussaint, the jewelry house of Cartier has been creating jewelry and accessories from the PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER line for more than a century.
At the beginning of its jewelry journey, the Cartier brand mascot had a flat design, but in the middle of the 20th century, the panther became three-dimensional. The first such decoration was created for Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. The precious brooch was a three-dimensional golden panther sitting on a large emerald.
A year later, the series of brooches was continued with a decoration with a wild cat on a sapphire cabochon. The third decoration of the collection was a sneaking panther with onyx and diamonds.
In 2014, Cartier celebrated the centenary of the PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER line with a series of 26 sealed rings, bracelets and necklaces, united by a modernized brand mascot.
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The line of precious panthers continues to grow year after year, helping brave and independent women loudly declare their individuality.
Features of the modern collection
The Alhambra collection consists of several lines:
- Vintage;
- Magic;
- Byzantine;
- Pure;
- Lucky;
- Sweet.
They differ from each other in style, color scheme, and materials used. In addition to clover, there are other motifs in the decoration - butterflies, hearts.
Despite its apparent simplicity, all elements of the Alhambra collection are manufactured to strict standards. Decorative inserts are processed by hand and then polished to achieve maximum shine. The precious metal frame is also created under the supervision of a master jeweler.
A sign of good luck: how the four-leaf clover became the epitome of Van Cleef & Arpels style
This jewelry motif, instantly recognizable and seemingly timeless, appeared exactly half a century ago. The four-leaf clover leaf has become the hallmark of Van Cleef & Arpels, and the Alhambra collection itself has become a classic. Moreover, it is a living classic that remains true to its original purpose: easy to wear, remaining varied and joyful. Alhambra turned out to be a real talisman for the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry house.
In florid slanted handwriting, on November 19, 1968, an agreement was signed for the production of pendant number 585, which marked the beginning of the future Alhambra collection of the famous French house Van Cleef & Arpels. “If Van Cleef & Arpels knew that they were making history, they could have chosen a different name for the decoration, because the shape of the quatrefoil evokes primarily the pointed arches and four-lobed ornaments of Gothic Venice, and not the ringing fountains, arches and columns of Moorish Andalusia “, writes Nicholas Foulkes in his book, mentioning, however, that some scholars recognized the “quatrefoil square” as one of the decorative forms common to all Gothic art.
However, it may very well be that the name of the collection was chosen simply for reasons of exoticism - to give the jewelry a special flavor and romance. "Alhambra" was just one of the possible options, along with "Sultana", "Scheherazade", "Gypsy", "Madras", "India" and "Luxor" - all potential titles full of the charm of distant lands.
Now, half a century after the appearance of the first item of the Alhambra collection, it becomes noticeable how little has changed in it: elegant informality, versatility and practicality, an appeal to the emancipated woman, an ever-expanding choice of colors and materials that makes you want to try them all.
Now Alhambra includes sautoirs, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, earrings, watches and even cufflinks. This is a whole world of shades and textures: pink, white and yellow gold, decorated with all kinds of natural materials, from scattering diamonds to precious woods. The motif, reminiscent of a four-leaf clover, has become the epitome of Van Cleef & Arpels style.
Over these 50 years, Alhambra jewelry has been worn in many different ways, and thanks to its democratic nature and ability to adapt like a chameleon to any situation and any environment, it has become one of the most iconic creations in the jewelry world.
Varieties
After the stunning success of the first collection with the four-leaf clover, Van Cleef & Arpels continued to experiment with the successful symbol. In 1971, they added colored stone inserts. At first, the golden flower was decorated with malachite and lapis lazuli, and later with other stones.
Modern earrings with four-leaf clover decorate:
- onyx;
- turquoise;
- Tiger's Eye;
- coral;
- gray and white mother-of-pearl;
- cornelian;
- diamonds;
- rhinestone;
- blue agate
Today, ornamental stones, jewelry enamel and glass are used to create a quatrefoil. The surface of the insert is left smooth or decorated with a scattering of sparkling crystals, a stone is inlaid in the center of the decoration or several stones in a pavé setting along the contour. Earrings take any form - from miniature studs to elegant pendant models.
Quatrefoil - a symbol of happiness and good luck Van Cleef & Arpels
The main source of inspiration for the French jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels was and remains the beauty of the surrounding nature. This is probably why the four-leaf clover became the company’s mascot, a symbol of good luck and happiness.
Alfred Van Cleef was inspired to create the brand symbol by his nephew, Jacques Arpels, who gave four-leaf clovers collected from the garden as good luck talismans to company employees. These symbolic gifts prompted the jewelry house to begin developing jewelry in the form of a quatrefoil.
Van Cleef & Arpels gold necklace
Despite the fact that the first sketches of precious talismans were made in the 20s, clover motifs turned into a full-fledged jewelry collection only in 1968. It was then that the iconic Alhambra jewelry series sautoir was created in yellow gold framed with gold beads.
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This collection also included earrings, rings and bracelets, the designs of which were ideally suited to the tastes of the post-war era. These jewelry became a breakthrough in jewelry fashion in the second half of the 20th century. They have replaced bulky jewelry intended for lush evening dresses from store windows, becoming a striking example of a universal, elegant and minimalist jewelry that is relevant for any wardrobe.
“Man is the creator of his own happiness,” this phrase became the motto of the Alhambra jewelry series, which was intended to remind people that luck is man-made and smiles on everyone at one point or another along the path of life.
Alhambra earrings from Van Cleef & Arpels
Since its first release, the Alhambra collection has been constantly updated with new designs and materials. In 1971, the golden clover was diluted with inserts of malachite and lapis lazuli. Further, the collection of inlays was replenished with coral, onyx, turquoise, tiger's eye, mother-of-pearl, carnelian, blue agate and rock crystal.
In 2022, Van Cleef & Arpels' precious quatrefoils turn half a century old. For the anniversary, the brand created a collection of “vintage” jewelry talismans with lapis lazuli, crystal and gray mother-of-pearl.
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Jewelry Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels
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Today, no one will accuse a woman of lack of taste if she wears jewelry. Elite jewelry made from high-quality jewelry alloy creates worthy competition for jewelry. A striking example of this is the Van Cleef earrings, a necklace with flowers, which with its elegant luxury has charmed many fashionistas around the world.
Van Cleef & Arpels Jewelry: Made with love.
The first Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry store opened in Paris back in 1906. Its founders are spouses Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels, and creating jewelry has become a family affair for them.
The brand's leitmotif is love, tenderness and spring. With decorations in the form of flowers, leaves and butterflies, even massive van cleef arpels jewelry is incredibly feminine and graceful. A two-finger ring, green Magic Alhambra 3 motif earrings, a long Vintage Alhambra Van Cleef Arpels quatrefoil necklace highlight the captivating curves of a woman’s neck, and exclusive bracelets on the wrist look truly stunning. You can create many memorable images by trying on these or those Van Cleef earrings or a necklace with 16 motifs in yellow gold.
Van Cleef's numerous experiments with jewelry design were crowned with success. The jewelry house became recognizable and popular thanks to the famous four-leaf clover. Van Cleef & Arpels has learned to extract maximum dazzling sparkle from the facets of stones and crystals - “invisible settings” are used for rectangular and square-cut gems.
Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry is accessible to everyone.
Original Van Cleef jewelry made from precious metals joined the jewelry collections of fashionistas of Old Europe and America; movie stars wore them more than once on the red carpet. Today, any fashionista can match them in luxury and unsurpassed style thanks to high-quality van cleef arpels earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Costume jewelry made from high-quality materials in the catalog of our online store www.tatler-moda.ru fully conveys the conceptual idea of the brand and van ceef can now be ordered wholesale from us. Four-leaf clover earrings in silver are available to buy at a low price wholesale and retail in Moscow. Such silver jewelry not only helps in creating original images, but also reveals self-confidence and inner harmony in a woman. To feel like a diva, it is enough to buy a bracelet from the Van Cleef collection in the online store tatler-moda.ru or a Van Cleef space ring, the price of which will pleasantly surprise you.
