Van Cleef & Arpels Two Butterfly Collection is Stunningly Beautiful

In the Two Butterfly jewellery line, Van Cleef & Arpels revisits one of their most cherished motifs. These spectacular works of art use colour and asymmetry to reimagine the elegance and beauty of butterflies in flight.

For Van Cleef & Arpels, spring has always been a source of inspiration. 

Each year, the famous Parisian jewellery maison celebrates the entrance of the year's most hopeful season by introducing new pieces to its Frivole line, which features breathtaking designs inspired by charming flower motifs.

However, that is not all, since the home has a special fondness for butterflies. They have been a part of the Van Cleef & Arpels aesthetic since the firm was formed more than a century ago, as symbols of nature's beauty and beneficence.

For more than two decades, the house has made this most fragile and lovely of animals the focal point of its Two Butterfly line, with a new piece celebrating the onset of spring each year. 

A necklace, a between-the-finger ring, and a set of earrings were all released this year, each of which takes brilliant colour in a new direction via the usage of turquoise.

The butterfly on the pendant is rendered in that material, angled to one side as if in flight, attempting to follow the diamond that appears suddenly near the butterfly's flapping wings in the piece's chain. Both the earrings and the between-the-finger ring employ a striking, asymmetrical style, juxtaposing a turquoise butterfly with a yellow gold, white gold, and diamonds combination. Separated on the earrings or nestled together on the ring, they create a striking contrast that is certain to spark conversation.

The Two Butterfly line has previously included pieces composed of yellow and pink sapphires, diamonds, tsavorite garnets, mother-of-pearl, and lapis lazuli, but this is the series's first step into turquoise. It's a substance that has been prized since antiquity for its vibrant, resonant hue: the ancient Egyptians and Aztecs were particularly fond of it.

The turquoise in the present collection was chosen for its purity and consistency of colour, and is shown with the best diamonds, which range in colour from D to F and in clarity from IF to VVS2.

Three distinct settings are used to secure the valuable diamonds: a bead setting for the pavé motifs, a prong setting for the marquise-cut diamond depicting the butterfly's body, and a closed setting for the pendant's round diamond.

The butterfly has been a part of Van Cleef & Arpels' history from its inception, first appearing on one of the maison's pieces in 1906, the same year it was formed. It has been portrayed in a variety of materials throughout the years, including wood, lacquer, enamel, mother-of-pearl, and valuable and decorative stones. 

It has featured on everything from clips to cigarette cartons, but the Two Butterfly line and its debut between-the-finger ring in yellow sapphires and diamonds were launched more than two decades ago.

It was joined almost 12 years ago by the Butterfly Signature high jewellery series, which continues to feature these magnificent animals prominently on the house's most desired luxury jewelry pieces.

Together with the yearly Frivole collection, they represent Van Cleef & Arpels' renewed optimism for the coming year, as well as its unwavering commitment to bringing a little bit of nature's awe to each wearer of its items.