The Butterfly is an inherently ephemeral creature. Yet, in its new High Jewellery collection, Van Cleef & Arpels captures its enchanting nature and offers it eternity. The DNA of the pieces in the Papillons collection contains every facet and characteristic of a Van Cleef & Arpels creation, such as exceptional stones of true character so unusual that they make the heart beat faster. Wide-ranging expertise and a variety of techniques have been used, such as the Mystery Setting, which was created in l933 and has been constantly improved ever since, open work, bezel-setting, which gives delicacy and an ethereal elegance to the pieces after hundreds of hours of work.

Perfection is sought, whether visible or invisible, on both the front and back of each piece.Cutting the stones to measure while they are being set, then chiselling and adjusting each motif to match each curve of the design are reminders of the particular attention paid by Van Cleef & Arpels to the selection of the gems, giving rise to the extraordinary combinations of colours in this collection. Finally, the imagination and creative, artistic and technical heritage of Van Cleef & Arpels have made it possible to convey the lightness of the Butterfly, capturing, the sublime immortality of its beauty without rendering it static.

There are currently 200,000 known species of butterfly. These creatures have fed the imagination of many artists and cultures throughout the world. In Japan, the butterfly is the ultimate symbol of femininity, whilst in China, it symbolises eternal love. Amongst the Amazonian Indians, it is said that simply whispering your dearest wish to a butterfly will ensure that it comes true. Many famous works of art have been devoted to the Butterfly, including Renaissance paintings, the golden age of Flemish and Dutch painting, and the Art Nouveau movement. Butterflies remain legendary creatures used to illustrate scientific theories and mathematical-philosophical metaphors; their transformation is surrounded by mystery, giving them a magical and almost supernatural aura.

Reinterpreted as winged jewels, butterflies have appeared in many collections and have inspired numerous special commissions and unique pieces throughout the history of Van Cleef & Arpels. These muses, with their diverse forms and innumerable colours, have been transformed into precious clips and earrings since the 1920s, their wings unfurling with the Mystery Setting in the 1970s and 1980s or adorned with diamond paving and rubies, as in the Envol necklace.

Entomology according to Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels has always been, and continues to be, inspired by Nature’s infinity and multiplicity: by the co-evolution of species, which has resulted in an astonishing mimicry between flowers and butterflies, by the rarest specimens, and the rhythm of the seasons. All of these elements have naturally found a place in the Papillons collection, amongst the myths, poetic legends and creative interpretations of Van Cleef & Arpels, breathing life into these eternally beautiful jewelled butterflies and moths.

Fabulous mimicry
From Darwin to Maria Sybilla Merian – one of the first female entomologists and a pioneer of the scientific study of butterflies – many eminent scientists have investigated the incredible similarities between plants and the insects that visit them for pollination or camouflage purposes. Van Cleef & Arpels reinvents these amazing
hybrids with the Cherry Blossom clip, featuring petals in white gold, yellow and white diamonds that closely resemble the wings of a butterfly. Corollas of pink cyclamens in platinum, pink gold, emeralds and pink sapphires blossom delicately on the Leilus necklace. Wings can be perceived inside each of the flowers, while a stem of diamonds curls around the neck and reveals beautifully curved leaves. In the Grand Imperial set, Nature’s mimicry has been expressed in the bells of a fuchsia flower transformed into pink gold wings paved with pink and white diamonds, perfectly complementing a necklace of interlacing leaves and flowers crafted from diamonds and white and pink gold, on which two butterflies are poised face to face.

Butterflies and Moths
Van Cleef & Arpels has been butterfly hunting; in its nets flutter the Vanessa, Brocatelle d’or, Bloomfdia and Aliris species, four butterflies featuring incredibly detailed motifs and colours, reinterpreted by artist-jewellers using a combination of subtle gradation of gemstones. While entomologists depict the Vanessa butterfly with
a leopard-coloured robe, here she is dressed in white gold and turquoise, her wings adorned with a delicate embroidery of round diamonds. A vivid range of colours also embellishes the Aliris earrings, featuring two wings in white gold, diamonds, turquoise, black spinals and Mandarin garnets. The magnificent sunflower hues
of the Brocatelle d’or butterfly illuminate white-gold earrings veined with diamonds, yellow gold, garnets and yellow sapphires. The wings of the Bloomfdia butterfly, metamorphosed into a clip, could be mistaken for large red Autumn leaves basking in the last rays of the sun: white and yellow gold are resplendent in the sparkle of diamonds, spinals, garnets, and tsavorite and demantoid garnets.

Moths, who are night to the butterflies’ day, can be recognised by their club-shaped antennae, in opposition to the fine and feathery antennae of butterflies. In fight, their two sets of wings are conjoined. These genetic particularities have not escaped the hands of the goldsmiths: the clip that pays homage to the Hypolimnas moth features superb wings in white gold, diamonds and gradations of blue sapphires. Extremely fine, they have been carefully chiselled to reveal a remarkably delicate open work setting. Our night fight continues with the beating wings of the Blumei, a majestic set comprising a necklace set with a constellation of diamonds, sapphires and aquamarines, which closely resemble the markings of the original moth, and a pendant on which a delicate butterfly of Japanese inspiration is poised, set with the same gems. Both pieces are closed using a hidden clasp. A matching pair of earrings elegantly brush the curve of the neck, while a majestic clip adds violet sapphires to this colourful array.

Cloud of butterflies
What is more beautiful than a cloud of butterflies in a ray of light? It is this phantasmagorical fight that Van Cleef & Arpels wishes to represent with the Issoria necklace. The wearer of this constellation of small diamond butterflies surrounding a pink sapphire heart can almost hear the rapid rustling of these paper fragile wings. The Sasakia and Jucunda rings, whose names are borrowed from the butterflies categorised by entomologists, capture moments of both day and night fight: the first is adorned with a majestic rubellite surrounded by pink sapphires and diamonds, while the other displays an emerald-cut aquamarine surrounded by a lattice of round diamonds.

 

Abstract interpretations
Infinitely poetical and quintessentially feminine, butterflies are the perfect embodiment of the most extravagant whims and fantasies. They become sublime sources of artistic expression in the two pairs of Philea earrings, which dazzle with pink sapphires and diamonds, fluttering like half-open wings in a gentle summer breeze. The necklace brings three Philea butterflies to life, whose contours are outlined by diamonds and multicoloured sapphires. With a bold play of asymmetrical lines, the choker progresses from a string of diamonds to a cascade of white cultured pearls. The Philea and Timandre rings adopt the same refined aesthetics, covering two fingers with their stylised wings, they outline only the contours of these two refined creatures.

Ode to Psyche
The beautiful Greek Goddess Psyche is often represented as a young woman decorated with a pair of butterfly wings, which she was given after marrying Eros. The etymology of her name means both soul and butterfly – more than enough for this romantic nymph to become the symbol of immortality, the promise of rebirth, future life and eternal happiness. For Van Cleef & Arpels, Psyche is the muse of three precious clips that take on the forms of fairies straight out of a jeweller’s fairytale: the two Fées Papillon, enveloped in a ribbon of diamonds, fly through a cloud of white gold, diamonds, and pink and blue sapphires. The Fée Alexanor flutters in a magnificent gown of white gold, blue and purple sapphires and diamonds. Between a wing beat and a heart beat lies but a zephyr.

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