This emerald and diamond necklace is one of 44 pieces on display in “Garden of Green.” Commissioned by Prince Karim Aga Khan IV for his wife in 1971, the suite boasts yellow gold, diamonds, and 477.58 carats of Colombian emeralds. The tiered necklace can be transformed into a pair of matching bracelets and a pendant-clip. (Photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
New York—A new jewelry exhibition, “Garden of Green: Exquisite Jewelry from the Collection of Van Cleef & Arpels” is now open at the American Museum of Natural History.
The exhibition, housed in the Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery inside the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, is a celebration of verdant gemstones as seen in jewelry from the French high jewelry maison over the past 100 years.
It features 44 pieces from the collections of Van Cleef & Arpels, 32 of which are on view in the United States for the first time.
“While the most well-known green gems are emerald and peridot, Garden of Green brings additional green stones, with their beautiful, diverse shades, into the spotlight,” said George Harlow, curator emeritus of the museum’s gem halls.
“Green stones and minerals owe their unique colors and patterns to various causes—malachite from the copper in its chemical composition, and peridot from the minor quantity and ionic charge of iron in the stone—and each specimen in this exhibition is a beautiful example of the amazing products of natural Earth processes.”
Garden of Green highlights green jewels across seven categories.
Emerald is seen in 12 pieces on view, including the “Quatre Chemins” necklace, created in 2019, which features 16 emerald-cut Zambian emeralds totaling 27.79 carats.
The Quatre Chemins necklace showcases white gold, platinum, sapphires, and 16 emerald-cut Zambian emeralds. It's inspired by the fairy tale popularized by the German folklorists Brothers Grimm, “Town Musicians of Bremen,” where four animals meet at the “Four Paths” that give the necklace its name. (Photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
A green form of beryl, emerald has a unique pattern of inclusions resembling branches called its jardin, French for garden. This unique feature inspired the exhibition’s name.
Jadeite jade is seen in pieces from the 1920s, including a silk Art Deco evening bag, a jade vanity case, and a lapel watch, while peridot is featured in a unique jewelry set with 132 peridots and 580 diamonds arranged as garlands of leaves and flower petals.
Malachite is seen in zodiac-themed pendants, the Alhambra long necklace, and a malachite-faced watch from the 1970s.
Green chalcedony, often showcased in jewelry from the 1970s, is featured in a bracelet reminiscent of a leafy garland, and chrysoprase, a translucent green variety of chalcedony, is seen in playful animal designs like the Van Cleef & Arpels mouse and bird clips. The clips were created in the 1950s to appeal to a younger clientele, and designers approached each piece “with a cartoonist’s flair for simplicity, adding winsome faces and lively features, including, respectively, large ears and small wings,” the designer said.
The whimsical Mouse and Bird clips feature green chrysoprase, varieties of gold, platinum, ruby, and diamonds. (Photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
The final category is “variations of green,” a selection the museum said features pieces inspired by the natural world, such as the “Cydonia” necklace and earrings set, which comes from the “Les Jardins” collection of 2009 and boasts more than 900 emeralds in a design that evokes the branches and large flowers of the quince tree.
The curves of the “Cydonia” set evoke the branches of the quince tree, Cydonia oblonga. Accented by butterflies set with rare pink diamonds, the necklace and earrings feature diamonds and 951 emeralds. (Photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Related stories will be right here …
Van Cleef & Arpels, since its founding in 1906, has designed jewelry and watches inspired by nature’s lightness, proportions, creatures, and colors.
From the California Collection, this clip is a depiction of the flower of the bush anemone or the Carpenteria californica. Made in 2016, the Carpenteria clip features platinum, yellow gold, garnets, yellow sapphires, and peridots and uses white opal for the petals. (Photo courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
“The maison is thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to be associated with the American Museum of Natural History. It has been stimulating to curate significant pieces of very high quality around this striking theme, the color green, which can speak to all visitors, curious and connoisseurs alike,” said Van Cleef & Arpels President and CEO Nicolas Bos.
The special exhibit will be on view until January 2024.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our visitors to see these truly spectacular jewelry pieces and we are so grateful to Van Cleef & Arpels for collaborating with the museum to bring them to New York audiences,” said AMNH President Sean M. Decatur.
The recently renovated Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals also is home to an array of green stones, carvings, and jewelry complementing the special exhibit, including the “Patricia Emerald,” a 632-carat emerald crystal discovered in 1920 at the Chivor Mine in Colombia, known for its vibrant color and large size.
Other notable green pieces in the halls include a jadeite jade incense burner from China, a behemoth beryl from Bumpus Quarry in Maine, and a piece from Morocco with pendants of aquamarine beryl circa 1750.
“We hope that, with their curiosity piqued, our visitors will explore further throughout the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals and enjoy learning about the physical properties of gems and minerals, their intriguing qualities, and what they tell us about our planet and its history,” Decatur said.
