Starry, Starry Night
Sous les Étoiles (or “heavenly dreams”) – a spectacular new collection of 150 high jewellery creations by VAN CLEEF & ARPELS – renews one of the maison’s most important historic sources of inspiration: the vast universe, tinged with mystery, fantasy and
Between fascination for its immensity and the thirst for knowledge, observing the sky has always inspired mankindʼs curiosity. In keeping with this age-old tradition, Van Cleef & Arpels has allowed its imagination to wander through the various interpretations of science, art and fantastical fiction. Ten years after the Les Voyages Extraordinaires high jewellery collection, which drew its inspiration from Jules Verne’s novel De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon, 1865), the maison continues its odyssey through space and time, discovering celestial phenomena.
It is a journey that has always fuelled the imagination of the French jeweller’s designers, expert gemologists and craftsmen, resulting in a wealth of interpretations that are at the crossroads of Van Cleef & Arpelsʼ emblematic style and creativity.
This time, the new collection leads to classical author Lucian of Samosata imagining a voyage in space, and Johannes Kepler and his inspirational text in The Dream and Lunar Astronomy (written in the early 17th Century), and to Camille Flammarion, who published his whimsical illustrated Astronomie Populaire in 1880.
The creations from Sous les Étoiles draw inspiration from the dance of the planets, where celestial figures coexist with a repertoire of forms and materials that captivate the gaze. In dynamic outlines, dazzling silhouettes and chromatic explosions, this contemplative dreamscape explores both gems and the heavens in all their hidden beauty.