Five new creations bring a translucent, bubble-strewn pink to the Maison's icon of luck, developed over several years in its own enamel workshops.

When Van Cleef &amp; Arpels created the first <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/van-cleef-arpels-history-background-alhambra">Alhambra</a> long necklace in 1968, the four-leaf clover motif was a study in restraint: 20 textured yellow gold motifs trimmed with a double-beaded contour, fluid enough for everyday wear. It was an instant success. Nearly six decades later, the shape has become the Maison's icon of luck, and it is still finding new ways to reintroduce itself.
Van Cleef &amp; Arpels has now unveiled five new Vintage Alhambra and Magic Alhambra creations rendered in translucent enamel, marking the material's first appearance in the collection. The set comprises a Vintage Alhambra long necklace with 20 motifs, a 10-motif necklace, a pendant, and a five-motif bracelet, all in yellow gold, alongside Magic Alhambra earrings with two motifs in guilloché yellow gold. Each one is set with a vibrant pink enamel enlivened by tiny bubbles that give the surface depth and movement.
"With these Alhambra creations in enamel, Van Cleef &amp; Arpels opens a new chapter in the history of its iconic collection, a symbol of luck," says Catherine Renier, President and CEO of Van Cleef &amp; Arpels. "Thanks to our workshops' expertise and capacity for innovation, enamel brings an original esthetic and shade to the Alhambra universe, which has continuously reinvented itself over the decades. This traditional jewelry material delivers effects of color, light, and transparency, patiently fine-tuned to enhance the pieces."

Vintage Alhambra bracelet, 5 motifs, yellow gold, pink enamel. Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels.

Magic Alhambra earrings, 2 motifs, guilloché yellow gold, pink enamel. Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels.

The pink itself is the achievement. Rather than using pigment, the Maison's enamellers turned to a technique inspired by the 17th-century gold-ruby process, in which color is produced by fine gold particles suspended within the material. Getting the shade right meant controlling the size, shape, and concentration of those particles precisely, and it took several years of research and development in the enamel workshops to perfect the procedure for the Alhambra motifs. The resulting material reflects light slightly better than emerald does, and each motif is given a curved surface to intensify the shimmer.

Vintage Alhambra long necklace, 20 motifs, yellow gold, pink enamel. Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels.

That kind of work sits comfortably within the house. Van Cleef &amp; Arpels' enamel workshop now masters more than 15 techniques, among them enamel miniature painting, grisaille, plique-à-jour, and enamel decal, and the Maison runs a three-year in-house enameling school to train its artisans. Its Métiers d'Art division has also invented new methods, including façonné enamel, the three-dimensional technique behind the Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté watch and the Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés pieces.
The finishing is where the details accumulate. Setting a curved enamel motif demands particular precision, and the claws are folded down to hold each clover while staying discreet, then rounded into small balls on the reverse so they sit softly against skin. The double row of golden beads, a Van Cleef &amp; Arpels signature, is shaped and polished until its curves run even, and the chain between motifs is faceted to catch more light. At the nape, the clasp carries the Maison's monogram. Every finished piece is inspected under a 10x loupe before it leaves the workshop.
Enamel has been part of the house since the beginning. It appeared in Van Cleef &amp; Arpels creations from 1906 onward, across precious objects, boxes, chatelaine watches, and clips, and turned up in Art Deco geometrics through the 1930s, in the playful animal and floral pieces of la boutique in the 1950s and '60s, and in the Poetic Complications dials that began with the Lady Arpels Centenaire in 2006. Placing it on the Alhambra is less a departure than an overdue introduction between two things the Maison has always done well.

Van Cleef & Arpels Introduces the Alhambra in Pink Enamel

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