Van Cleef & Arpels has unveiled an update to its’ best selling Alhambra collection. Named Delicate Metamorphoses the new pieces include sautoir necklaces, reversible Vintage Alhambra rings and a new Sweet Alhambra jewellery watch. Alhambra is the Maison’s most recognisable motif and has now been updated as transformable jewellery including discreet mechanisms, guilloché gold as well as luminous stones.
The timeless design first appeared in 1968, instantly becoming a symbol of the free spirited 1960’s. It was designed for a new generation of independent women who were buying jewellery for themselves. Alhambra was inspired by two unique places – the quatrefoil arches of Spain’s Alhambra Palace and the four-leaf clovers that Jacques Arpels, the founder’s nephew, collected in his garden. “To be lucky, you have to believe in luck,” he would say.
The original Alhambra sautoir featured 20 yellow gold clovers edged in its delicate beading. The design became an instant hit and was quickly adopted by the famous and iconic women of the time such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Romy Schneider. See our story here of an Icon Dissected.
Decades later, the Alhambra has lost none of its sparkle. Today it’s worn by princesses and rappers – from Katherine, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla to LeBron James, Cardi B and Central Cee. They’ve all been photographed wearing the iconic design. Even at the 2024 Paris Olympics fencer Cheung Ka-Long won gold for Hong Kong wearing his iconic Alhambra bracelet.
Online, the hashtag #VanCleefAlhambra has become a full-blown phenomenon. On TikTok its surpassed 80 million views and has become a Gen Z phenomenon where fans share styling ideas and unboxing. It’s success is due to the simplicity and flexibility of the design. It’s a simple but subtle combination of multi coloured stones and intricate perlée gold beading which makes the pieces so easy to wear and additionally it’s unisex.
Each Alhambra piece is the result of over 15 stages of craftsmanship, carried out by Van Cleef & Arpels master artisans. The stones are individually selected for harmony of colour and iridescence, then shaped, polished and set into golden frames using the ancient lost-wax technique. The collection’s hallmark perlée beading — tiny, rounded gold beads — dates back to the 1920s and remains a signature of the Maison. Every piece is then hand-stamped with the the number 750 (the hallmark indicating its 18k gold) as well a unique serial number, marking it as authentic Van Cleef & Arpels.
For 2025, and nearly sixty years after the designs first appeared Van Cleef & Arpels has updated the collection. Delicate Metamorphoses is a five piece collection of intriguingly transformable designs.
Magic Alhambra launched in 2006 and was the first time that the Maison combined different sized clover designs. Two new Magic Alhambra transformable long necklaces are the key pieces for this new launch. They’ve been designed to be worn in three different ways, as a long sautoir, a short necklace or a bracelet all thanks to hidden clasps. One combines guilloché rose gold with white and grey mother-of-pearl; the other blends guilloché white gold, chalcedony and white mother-of-pearl in cool, luminous tones.
The new Vintage Alhambra reversible rings feature a smooth rotating mechanism that reveals a second face. One side sporting luminous chalcedony or grey mother-of-pearl, the other a diamond framed in guilloché gold. Lastly a Sweet Alhambra watch joins the collection, a jewellery watch that pairs guilloché white gold with chalcedony and diamonds.
Alhambra’s long term success has been due to the fact that while it’s classic it’s also modern. Adopted by the Hollywood glitterati to the streets of Bronx, each generation making the design personal and also current whether its worn with tracksuits and trainers as per Central Cee or cardigans and twinsets and pearls by Princess Katherine. For Delicate Metamorphoses, the Alhambra has been transformed once again, and continues to be a lucky charm, proving that good luck never goes out of fashion.
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