Symphony In Red

Showcasing over 3,000 carats of certified rubies, Van Cleef & Arpel’s Treasure of Rubies is a disciplined study of beauty. Charmaine Ho reports from the launch in Bangkok.

Nestled along the western bank of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River is the Wanglee Mansion, a Chinese-styled courtyard house built in 1881 that stands as one of the few remaining relics of its kind in the city. It was accorded the Association of Siamese Architect’s Architectural Conservation Award in 1984. Yet, for all the beauty of its Chinese glazed roof tiles and its manicured carpet grass lawns, the privately-owned mansion is strictly guarded and off-limits to the public. The exception was one magnificent night in March, when its wooden doors were thrown wide open for an event befitting its stature: The launch of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Treasure of Rubies high jewellery collection, held in the midst of a city that was once the world’s commercial hub for rubies.

COLOUR OF PASSION

With 60 pièces uniques and an astounding 3,000 carats of certified rubies to its name, the Treasure of Rubies collection is impressive, not only for the breadth and diversity of its designs that span Art Deco to Modernism, but also for the fact that well-sized rubies—which are known to consistently out-price clear diamonds of the same carat weight—are exceedingly rare. The mere idea of building a full collection centred on the scarce corundum is enough to make any jeweller quake. Not Van Cleef & Arpels, who has pulled off this immense feat with much aplomb.