Clients who arrived by private jet to Van Cleef & Arpels recent debut of its latest high jewelry collection, Treasure Island, were clearly impressed by the French Maison’s idea of pirate’s booty—the entire collection was reportedly nearly sold out by the time press got to see pieces the following evening at a gala hosted on the grounds of Vizacaya in Miami. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th-century adventure novel of the same name, the collection predominately focused on colored stones (and some very heavyweight ones at that) in designs that directly translated the theme from brooches designed as pirates, palm trees, and ships to more subtle references like a geometric sapphire, emerald, and diamond collar necklace meant to evoke the windows of a pirate’s ship. Some of the first pieces to be swiped up for clients’ own treasure chests? A necklace with an enormous turquoise drop was the pièce de resistance of the collection to an emerald and diamond palm tree brooch that is classic Van Cleef and emblematic of the collection, and a bevy of jaw-dropping cocktail rings with enormously sized stones.
Talk to anyone inside or outside the company, and you will hear that the Parisian jeweler is on fire (as a result, Nicolas Bos, the former CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, is now CEO of its parent company, Richemont, with former VCA alum and Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO, Catherine Renier , now spearheading the jeweler). Word has it that when a jewelry house is constantly selling.
