Why do high jewellery brands find space so inspiring? How Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Louis Vuitton and other maisons craft dazzling designs channelling celestial bodies

May 25 , 2022

Chanel’s Constellation of Leo necklace in yellow gold, platinum, diamonds, malachites and tsavorite garnets, is one of many jewellery pieces inspired by the stars. Photo: Chanel

High jewellery houses often look to the night sky for inspiration, or to works of art and science through the ages with similar themes – like Camille Flammarion’s L’Astronomie Populaire

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Zodiaque collection recreates the constellations while its Sous les Étoiles range includes a diamond necklace channelling Halley’s comet

“The spectacle of the starry sky attracts us, envelops us, speaks of infinity, communicates a dizzy sense of the abyss; for, more than anything else, it grasps and calls out to the contemplative soul,” wrote Camille Flammarion in his celebrated book L’Astronomie Populaire, conveying mankind’s inexhaustible curiosity in the world beyond our planet’s atmosphere.

This thirst for astronomical knowledge dates back to a time when human beings’ understanding of space was limited to what was perceivable to the naked eye. In lieu of settling for the tip of the iceberg, we filled the gaps with hypotheses and wild imaginings, producing the varied interpretations of science, art and literature.

Luxury labels draw inspirations from these observations, tales, drawings and telescopic images of stars and constellations, to craft majestic high jewellery encrusted with galaxies of gleaming stones and enriched with nebulae of motifs.

Sagittari necklace from the Zodiaque collection. Photo: Van Cleef & Arpels

“As a poetic high jewellery maison with a positive vision of life, we constantly take inspiration from universes which symbolise elegance, artistic sensibility and poetry,” explains Julie Becker, managing director of Van Cleef & Arpels Hong Kong and Macau.

“There are seven main inspirations which Van Cleef & Arpels holds dear, and are constantly showcasing in high jewellery creations, they are love stories, nature – flora and fauna – dance, luck, couture, imaginary worlds and astronomy.”

Van Cleef & Arpels has two collections that demonstrate the difference in approaches to stargazing between ancient and modern times.

An extension of the brand’s Poetic Astronomy series, the Zodiaque repertoire consists of jewellery that recreates the symbolism of constellations. The 12 long necklaces pay tribute to the label’s Mansarde Ciel Étoilé charm created in 1964, seeing a golden graphic set against a resplendent backdrop.

Take the Sagittarii, for instance. A three-dimensional centaur is encircled by a hammered rose gold trim, while the reverse of the round pendant is graced with a cut-out of the bow and arrow. On each side, the brick red, marbled pietersite underlayer is revealed, a nod to the zodiac sign’s fire element. Equipped with an adjustable fine chain, each piece from this range is thoughtfully ornamented with a bright-coloured natural stone which pairs well with garments in a darker shade.

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Sous les Étoiles assemblage translates recent astronomical photographs of cosmic landscapes into 150 intricate high jewellery creations characterised by a strong impression of movement to celebrate the theme’s eternal and evocative power.