L’Officiel Malaysia – July 2019

L’Ofciel Bijoux 67

There is more to a piece of jewellery than just the four Cs, the

precious versus semi-precious stone conundrums and other

design elements. It’s a three-dimensional item of luxury that

comes with context. One finely crafted bejewelled creation

stands for countless hours of manual labour, and for an

illustrious heritage label like Van Cleef & Arpels, it represents

inimitable craftsmanship that has been honed for well over a

century.

The French maison has been turning in groundbreaking designs

as well as exceptional workmanship from the very beginning.

The now-beloved mirror polishing technique came into being

in the 1920s and it continues to be in use to further accentuate

the magic of gold and to lend the pieces that unrivalled,

intense reflection when bathed in light. Case in point: the

newest additions to the Frivole collection boast gold petals

so immaculately polished that you can see the golden prongs

holding the central diamonds visibly reflected on them.

Fast forward a few years after the debut of the said technique,

Van Cleef & Arpels once again made waves with its patented

Mystery Set—a technique where stones are set in such a way

that the prongs they are mounted on are completely unseen,

thus giving the illusion of freestanding gems. This technical

know-how remains among the rarest of jewellery-making

approaches in the business due to its complexity and the level

of expertise needed to execute it.

Distinctive stone-setting skills is also a specialty at Cartier. In

recent years, the jeweller has repurposed the “en tremblant”

setting that was once used by the brand at the end of the

19th century to jazz up its limited-edition Cartier Ballon Bleu

Vibrating Setting watch. The setting enables the gems to

quietly quiver above the watch dials as well as over the gold

skeleton of the jewellery pieces, as demonstrated in the latest

Les Galaxies de Cartier collection.

Used in conjunction with a white gold ring and bracelet, the

diamonds are set against metaquartzite plates—an element

that has never been used in Cartier jewellery before—using

the vibrating setting before they are covered with rock crystal

domes. This approach aptly communicates Cartier’s inspiration

behind the collection which is to illustrate the solar systems

and black holes that are in gravitation within the galactic disc

in the Milky Way.

Another celebrated savoir faire that ranks in the upper echelon

of fine jewellery is the Tubogas by Bulgari. Named after the

exhaust hoses of Italian cars back in the day, the technique

astounds for its capacity to fashion coiled and contoured

metalwork without any soldering. Rising to prominence in

the 1940s for its starring role in the first ever Serpenti watch,

the Tubogas method has since been reworked into countless

creations including jewellery by artisans of the luxury brand.

Various iterations of the Tubogas have been released—from the

more straightforward Serpenti Tubogas single and double coil

rings, bracelets and necklaces to the more elusive versions of it

from the B.zero1 collection. For its 20th anniversary celebration

this year, the B.zero1 is crafted using the Tubogas method

where long, thin strips of precious metals are wrapped and

interlocked (sans soldering), before being capped at the top

and bottom with flat rings inscribed with the BVLGARI BVLGARI

logo.

The X Factor

Beyond the aesthetic, these jewellery houses formulated their own signatures

with trailblazing craftsmanship that have made them the icons they are today.

BY NIKITA NAWAWI