It’s 10pm and I’m in bed with my laptop, shooting out emails. In all honesty, I’m feeling a little put out by the fact that I’m stuck working instead of enjoying a night swim in the private pool located just metres from me. But before I have any real chance to wallow in self-pity, the air fills with loud booms that can only be caused by fireworks. Throwing open the doors of my Trisara Resort villa, I’m greeted by a spectacular night sky ablaze in a riot of colours that reflects off the tranquil waters of the Andaman Sea.
This magical sight sets a pitch-perfect tone for the adventure I’m about to embark on the next day, courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels, who invited me to Phuket to discover their latest high jewellery collection: Treasure Island.
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Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 high-seas adventure novel of the same name, the 300-piece collection is a marvellous body of work that lives up to the illustrious reputation of its namesake classic. Pirates and mermaids, marine creatures and mythological figures populate a world filled with treasure-laden islands, full-rigged ships, and a glorious kaleidoscope of faultless gems to make the heart yearn.
The Palmeraie Merveilleuse necklace, for example, embraces the neck with its articulated diamond form, with contoured gold lines reminiscent of a crown of palm leaves. The necklace is the collection’s costliest creation, thanks to a 47.93-carat Colombian emerald cabochon set regally in its detachable pendant. (A little bird tells us that the necklace is priced at over $10 million.)
On the Poésie de la Mer brooch is another cabochon beauty: A 61.73-carat teardrop-shaped tourmaline that’s lovingly cradled in the arms of a mermaid with a rose-cut diamond face—a brand signature that any Van Cleef & Arpels connoisseur would applaud.
From the 55.34-carat emerald-cut sapphire of the intricately woven En Haute Mer necklace (which sees the Maison tapping on its 80-year expertise in braided gold craftsmanship), to the 23.47-carat oval spessartite garnet of the Moussaillon necklace (that impeccably recreates the lush fabric of its lavallière inspiration in gold), Treasure Island showcases a “booty” of sizable stones that any self-respecting plundering pirate would be proud of.
Yet, Van Cleef & Arpels has never been one to sit on its gem-encrusted laurels. Setting the stage for this trove of preciousness is a treasure chest of jewellery techniques that delve deep into the House’s heritage for time-mastered savoir-faire.
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Enter the Onde Mystérieuse box, which features two detachable clips that swivel open to reveal a diamond pavé watch dial at the 12 o’clock position. Employing the expert skills of jewellers, watchmakers, enamel craftsmen and lapidaries, its hammered white gold frame encircles a shoal of sculpted white and rose gold fish, swimming serenely in a multi-blue sea. The latter is created through paillonné enamel, a revered 18th-century technique where silver foil (or paillon) is sandwiched between layers of enamel for a luminous, shimmering effect.
The two bejewelled clips, one with sapphires and diamonds, and the other with blue tourmalines and sapphires, showcase the jeweller’s signature Mystery Set technique where the gems are set without visible prongs.
As Dorothée Henrio, managing director of Van Cleef & Arpels, Southeast Asia, notes in one of our chats the next day, “Van Cleef & Arpels creations always link back to our heritage, our patrimony, what we are, and what we stand for. Treasure Island speaks about this in every way, and it pays tribute to the brand universe with its inspiration, craftsmanship and stones.”
The collection unfolds in three chapters: The first sets sail with nautical instruments and sailor’s knots that reflect the art of navigation; the second pays homage to nature with not so-humble seashells adding their glittering forms to towering trees and languid sea creatures; while the third traverses the five oceans for the ultimate treasure hunt, with creations inspired by far-flung destinations and different eras.
To drive home the point, Van Cleef & Arpels even thought up a design to symbolise this three-chapter narrative. The Palmier Mystérieux brooch presents a rose gold palm tree—with Mystery Set emerald leaves and diamond coconuts—that can be paired with a diamond sailboat, a textured gold sun or a chest of precious stones.
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At the gala dinner, as I sit facing the sea and watch the sun set between the fronds of coconut trees, I realise that the brooch depicts the pretty scene before me as well—small wonder that the Maison chose to unveil its collection in Asia on the island nicknamed the Pearl of the Andaman.
“Phuket is a wonderful island with greenery surrounded by this magnificent, clear water. This is a perfect place for Van Cleef & Arpels to express its new collection,” says Henrio. “Stevenson’s fantastical work [is about] a journey of adventure, exploration, wonder, excitement, and a sense of enchantment, and we really wanted to bring that into Asia.” And that they did with a merry band of pirate performers and fireworks that conclude the trip with a resounding “Aye”!
With glamorous whimsy and playful sophistication, Treasure Island is a fitting new chapter to a brand legacy that often draws from the power of storytelling. Staking his claim on the Van Cleef & Arpels bookshelf, Stevenson joins literary luminaries such as Shakespeare (2003’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet in 2019), Jules Verne (2010’s Les Voyages Extraordinaires) and the Brothers Grimm (Quatre contes de Grimm of 2018).
With Van Cleef & Arpels having charted the course for its latest voyage of imagination, I’m just glad that I’ve been asked to come along for the ride—with a couple of bottles of rum in tow.