The New Norm

High jewellery sheds its staidly reputation as these maisons put a modern spin on extravagant baubles.

- Karishma Tulsidas

Love, Actually

Van Cleef & Arpels

ROMEO AND JULIET serve as the muse of Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest high jewellery collection. The French maison, which launched a ruby-centric high jewellery collection earlier this year, released its second collection in the space of five months at Paris’s Hotel d’Evreux in early July.

Three main inspirations dictated Van Cleef & Arpels’ interpretation of Shakespeare’s 1587 tragedy: love, the architecture of Verona and the Renaissance costumes of that period. Iconic scenes from the play, too, have been depicted as precious jewels.

Take for instance the Balcony clip, where the lovers express their ardour for one another. The balcony and its door are studded with brilliant- and baguette-cut diamonds, while emeralds and tsavorites of differing sizes represent the foliage. For the wearer, there is a secret hiding at the back of the balcony. Here, Romeo and Juliet, sculpted in rose gold, can be found holding hands. It’s a sweet detail, but it’s the execution and attention to detail that impress.

Not all the designs are literal, of course: the Kiss at the Balcony earrings feature intertwining symmetrical locks studded with brilliant-cut diamonds and calibrated rubies that abstractly represent the passion of the kiss. The earrings are detachable, a recurring theme in the collection.