Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra collection review

The Van Cleef & Arpels collections pay tribute to beautiful romantic stories and unique gemstones. The carefully selected diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds that crown these jewelry pieces symbolize love, passion, and luxury.

Alhambra

The Alhambra is a fabulous place with a famous history. This is the name of the garden, park, and palace complex of the Muslim dynasty of the Nasrid, which in 1968 became an inspiration for French jewelers.

As a basis, the craftsmen took a clover with four leaves – a constantly repeating element of the Alhambra ornament, which is present in bas-reliefs, in the stone decoration of fountains, in the design of windows and doors, as well as in mosaics. Since then, the precious four-leafed flower has become an iconic symbol of the brand.

Initially, it was a chain with flower links, today the collection has expanded to all kinds of rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, and since 2000, watches.

Vintage and New

In the early 2000s, Van Cleef & Arpels split Alhambra into two lines – Alhambra Vintage and Alhambra New. Decorations differ from each other: the Alhambra Vintage flower has preserved a golden center in the middle. Alhambra New flowers have a single coating: diamond, mother-of-pearl, or made of precious stones. The jewelers also added flowers of other shapes to the classic clover with four leaves.

You can learn more about the Alhambra collection here.