Throughout history, people have bought jewelry not only for its visual appeal but also for the significance of its heritage. Truly classic jewelry pieces can transcend time, remaining timeless and passed down through generations.
The taste of celebrities in choosing classic jewelry is often remarkably consistent.
For instance, Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco was a devoted fan of Van Cleef & Arpels, collecting a full set of various styles, earning her VVVIP status.
Later, her daughter Princess Caroline also loved the same pieces, inheriting her mother’s excellent taste.
Even Grace Kelly’s granddaughter, Princess Caroline’s daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, has worn the same bracelet. Their love for Van Cleef & Arpels has lasted three generations, making it a true family heirloom.
Duchess Kate often wears this Van Cleef & Arpels necklace at important events. Its striking pattern complements her elegant and gentle demeanor, and she’s been seen interacting with Princess Charlotte while wearing it, creating particularly endearing mother-daughter moments.
Legendary soprano Maria Callas of the 1950s even chose full sets of Van Cleef & Arpels for both her handbags and jewelry. Her gold purse paired with gold jewelry still looks regal and graceful today.
The classic jewelry favored by these celebrities and socialites shares a common feature: they all incorporate Van Cleef & Arpels’ golden bead elements. The well-known four-leaf clover design is actually surrounded by a circle of golden beads. It’s these important elements that add to their elegant charm.
If you follow jewelry trends, you’ll know that these golden beads are one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature elements. Gold itself represents nobility and high value, while the golden beads crafted by the maison’s skilled artisans also carry auspicious meanings of harmony and perfection. For over a century, they have been consistently featured in various Van Cleef & Arpels collections, creating many classic pieces.
I remember attending Van Cleef & Arpels’ “The Art of Movement” high jewelry art exhibition a few years ago. Their heritage collection left a particularly deep impression on me.
Clustered golden beads, combined with coral beads and pearls, formed highly three-dimensional designs that were uniquely distinctive among all the high jewelry I’ve seen.
It inherently possesses a joyful and playful rhythm while maintaining a vintage flavor, unconsciously lifting one’s mood and transporting them back to the limitless glamour of the golden age.
Today, the golden bead design has become an iconic theme for the maison, with an irreplaceable distinctiveness. The Perlée collection, which uses golden beads as its main element, takes the beauty of these beads to the extreme.
Whenever I see someone wearing pieces from this collection, I can’t help but take a second look. It shows a discerning taste, being both stylish and not overly ostentatious – a super tasteful choice.
Recently, I visited Van Cleef & Arpels’ new Perlée pop-up experience space in Beijing, which gave me a fresh appreciation and understanding of golden beads.
The entire space was co-created by Van Cleef & Arpels and French artist Arthur Hoffner. This 90s-born French artist is an old friend of the maison, having first collaborated with Van Cleef & Arpels in 2019. He excels in using various geometric elements, making his partnership with the Perlée collection a perfect match.
The sweet, dreamy colors and whimsical geometric installations on-site made it feel like entering a joyful, colorful golden bead wonderland.
A golden bead Ferris wheel, an intriguing maze, a shimmering hourglass, an inspirational fountain… Various interactive installations kept visitors lingering, instantly forgetting their worries and immersing themselves in the joyful, vibrant dopamine rush.
I also fell in love with the new Perlée series jewelry. The aura it presents is quite different from other jewelry, reminiscent of a summer scene brimming with colorful bubbles – cheerful, beautiful, and utterly unforgettable.
The Perlée series has always been a treasure in my heart. I feel that the timeless elegance inherent in golden beads can transcend time. For career women looking to invest in classic jewelry, it’s also an all-in-one choice.
Today, let’s discuss what makes these small golden beads so charming, and why they continue to captivate people even after more than a century.
Unique Aesthetics, Exquisite Craftsmanship
Timeless Presence Across a Century
Compared to other Van Cleef & Arpels creations, golden beads might not be the most famous, but in terms of historical significance, they undoubtedly rank at the top.
The maison’s use of golden beads can be traced back to the 1920s, over 120 years ago.
By 1948, golden beads appeared more frequently, gradually becoming a unique decorative pattern. Inspired by round settings, the maison closely interlaced small, rounded beads of precious metals like gold, forming curved surfaces as the main body of the jewelry.
Adorned with sapphires, rubies, and other colored gems, they outlined geometric shapes, creating a strong sense of order and ceremony, making them truly distinctive.
I think its most impressive aspect is how it broke the rules of previous jewelry design. In most people’s minds, precious metals like gold always played a supporting role, serving as a “background” or “base” to complement diamonds and gemstones.
Van Cleef & Arpels, however, took a different approach, transforming precious metals into lively golden beads and making these beads the main focus of the entire piece. They work in harmony with diamonds and colored gems, highlighting the texture and radiance of the golden beads themselves. This innovative concept was truly ahead of its time.
Many of the heritage pieces I saw on-site made extensive use of the golden bead elements, with their golden luster shining enchantingly, resembling complex sculptural pieces.
Including pieces from the Couscous and Bagatelle collections, the golden beads are combined with colored gemstones, pearls, diamonds, and other materials. The golden beads feel like lively musical notes, stringing together a joyful melody, making one marvel at the maison’s ingenious ideas.
The versatility of golden beads is even greater than you might imagine. They are one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ most frequently used elements, constantly evolving whether as the main feature or as a curved border.
Not just in heritage pieces, golden beads are incorporated into many Van Cleef & Arpels creations, from the Alhambra four-leaf clover series to various other collections.
With the addition of rounded golden beads, jewelry becomes more vibrant and full-bodied, allowing connoisseurs to instantly recognize: this is a Van Cleef & Arpels creation. Golden beads are indispensable, and their presence always gives the maison’s jewelry a unique vitality and poetic essence.
Throughout the long course of history, golden beads have stood the test of time, and pieces featuring golden bead elements have become classics among classics, beloved by many world-renowned celebrities.
Becoming a classic is not just due to beautiful appearance, but also because of the craftsmanship it embodies.
Those delicate round beads of varying sizes are not easy to create. They are made through the lost-wax casting process using precious metals, and each golden bead is individually hand-polished by jewelry artisans.
Thanks to the maison’s mirror-polishing technique, golden beads can further release their brilliance. Through ingenious setting techniques, they achieve a perfectly symmetrical and harmonious shape, representing the maison’s pursuit of excellence in jewelry making.
Innovative Interpretation + Auspicious Meaning
True Connoisseurs Love Wearing Golden Beads
After discussing the history of golden beads, we must mention the Perlée collection, which innovatively interprets the golden bead concept.
This collection, born in 2008, continues Van Cleef & Arpels’ long-standing golden bead craftsmanship. It embodies the maison’s aesthetics and exquisite craftsmanship, with an outstanding fresh, lively, and joyful character. The rounded golden beads represent beauty, playfulness, joy, and vitality, instantly healing one’s heart at a glance.
When worn, it’s both modern and vintage, eye-catching without being ostentatious, perfectly aligning with people’s current state of mind.
If you already own a four-leaf clover piece and want to add another versatile, recognizable, yet unique piece of jewelry, items from the Perlée collection are actually very suitable.
They achieve true versatility – golden beads with mirror polish create modern, clean, shining lines that complement any outfit. They mix particularly well with the Alhambra four-leaf clover lucky series, achieving just the right level of elegance.
The Perlée collection feels like the “little black dress” of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry. Whether elegant or casual, it easily adapts to various styles.
For seasoned Van Cleef & Arpels enthusiasts, stacking Perlée pieces with other collections creates an even more dazzling effect, elevating one’s style to the next level. As a devoted fan of Van Cleef & Arpels myself, I’ve acquired pieces from the Pont des Amoureux watch to various jewelry items, and their interplay with the Perlée series is truly captivating.
The Perlée collection offers a rich variety of choices, from bracelets and rings to earrings and more. Recent new releases have brought a fresh perspective. Let’s take a look at which pieces are most worth acquiring.
Golden Beads and Diamonds, Double the Brilliance
The most prominent pieces in the Perlée collection are undoubtedly the bracelets, with new designs further emphasizing the characteristics of golden beads.
The new Perlée diamonds bracelet is quite a bold statement, featuring 5 rows of interlaced golden beads alternating with beautifully set diamonds. The asymmetrical design is uniquely beautiful while maintaining elegance.
Available in yellow gold, rose gold, and white gold, the set diamonds are carefully selected for quality, using only DEF color and IF to VVS clarity grade diamonds, making them exceptionally brilliant.
Although made of completely different materials, when golden beads and diamonds intertwine, they seem to merge seamlessly.
This is due to the maison’s mirror-polishing and openwork techniques, allowing for a perfect fit while enhancing the light reflections between different materials. The result is strikingly dazzling, like a concerto of golden beads and diamonds.
There’s also the Perlée couleurs ring, set with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, exuding a classical charm with a touch of exoticism.
The delicate radiance of golden beads creates a captivating aura when worn, infusing Van Cleef & Arpels’ poetic creations with vitality and joy. In daily work and life, seeing it can inspire creativity, with a unique charm that’s irresistible.
Dazzling Geometry, Eye-Catching Romance
The Perlée diamonds duo ring is also eye-catching, with two rings adorned with the maison’s signature mirror-polished finish and round diamonds respectively. The layering of two materials creates double the brilliance, with a natural stacked effect.
I love the contrast of different materials, combining the classic elements of gold and diamonds, cleverly designed with a touch of ingenuity. It’s like a geometric work of art, embodying a rational kind of romance.
Golden beads surround both sides of the ring like ribbons, greatly enhancing its delicacy and sense of ceremony, making the ring’s shape more three-dimensional and distinctive.
It even evokes deeper meanings: the two rings are different yet inseparably intertwined, making it suitable as a gift to express love. On the other hand, it can also represent different aspects of oneself – the plain ring bold and decisive, the diamond ring soft and brilliant, creating a meaningful duality.
The ring’s craftsmanship is exquisite, with the maison’s jewelry masters performing polishing, refinement, and hand engraving. Each step requires precision and meticulousness, embodying true craftsmanship.
It can be worn alone as a striking centerpiece or stacked with other pieces to fully unleash the brilliance of diamonds and golden beads. If you can only choose one diamond-set gold ring this summer, this would be more than sufficient.
Playful Versatility, Unlocking Imagination
For those seeking a more advanced style, I highly recommend these Perlée diamonds earrings.
The curved contours are full and rounded, with 88 sparkling diamonds pavé-set on the surface, bordered by golden beads, emphasizing completeness and perfection.
The subtle gradation in size of the numerous beads and diamonds creates an elegant yet playful look, very lively and charming.
Wearing them seems to brighten one’s mood. As they sway gently with movement, reflecting light, the wearer appears surrounded by a halo, naturally radiant.
Besides pure white gold, there are also vintage yellow gold and warm rose gold options available.
The joyful and lively character allows for creative stacking with rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Mixing with pieces from other collections is also striking, allowing for endless imagination to unlock various combinations and express one’s unique personality.
Having read this far, are you moved by the new Perlée collection pieces?
Why Do True Van Cleef & Arpels Connoisseurs Adore ‘Golden Bead’ Jewelry?
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