AYRSHIRE, Scotland — There’s no stopping Van Cleef & Arpels’ love affair with Britain.

The Richemont-owned jeweler has been a long-standing supporter of the British royal family and to present its latest collections, Flowerlace and Fleurs d’Hawaï, it was no short of grand.

Van Cleef & Arpels took over the grounds of Dumfries House — a country house owned by The King’s Foundation — with its top clients, members of the press and its executive leadership team to showcase the craftsmanship, colored gems and love of horticulture instilled in the two collections.

Beautifully created installations dotted the greenhouses and gardens of the grand estate featuring jewelry and watch pieces from the collections on a sunny July day, a rarity even for Scotland, where climates are harsher and more unpredictable than England.

Nothing on display was by accident. 

Van Cleef & Arpels sprinkled items from the archive against the Flowerlace and Fleurs d’Hawaï collections, as a cross reference for the thread of inspiration, as well as a reminder of the brand’s proud heritage that continues to shape its values and visual identity.

The Silhouette clip style from 1937 served as muses for the Flowerlace collection using the fluid outlines of the flower, which were a characteristic of the later years of the Art Deco movement. 

The ‘30s clips use yellow gold, rubies and diamonds, whereas Flowerlace has been minimized to yellow gold and diamonds using a complex and delicate method of layering the petals together that resemble a ribbon or twisted balloons.

No petal in the Flowerlace collection is equal just like the founders in the rose gardens of Dumfries House.

“We were looking for a garden that could gather all of Van Cleef & Arpels’ flowers and we have strong links to The King’s Foundation,” said Jean Bienayme, international marketing director at Van Cleef & Arpels, in an interview.

The jeweler was named principal patron of The King’s Foundation Gardens and Estates in 2023, taking charge of the flora at three Scottish and English properties with strong ties to King Charles.

The Richemont-owned brand has been overseeing the preservation of the Rose Garden inside the Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden at Dumfries House, as well as improving and developing the woodland, hedgerows and borders across the entire estate.

The flower garden, which has been renamed the Van Cleef & Arpels Rose Garden, is open to the public, and is one of the largest and most diverse in Scotland.

“We wanted to go to a country we haven’t visited before. Scotland is not somewhere people think of for beautiful flowers and gardens, so it made sense for us since we have a relationship with the British royal family,” said Bienayme.

In the spirit of gardens and blooming flowers, Van Cleef & Arpels put its Pivoine clip from 1937 on display, its mystery setting craftsmanship and use of colored gemstones, such as the ruby and diamond combination.

The Fleurs d’Hawaï collection uses an array of colored gemstones, including rhodolites, citrines, amethysts, peridots and aquamarines across rings, pendants, earrings and a secret watch that can be transformed from a brooch or necklace to a watch using a hidden clip.

The secret clip muses after the Passe-Partout creation from 1939 that was made up of yellow gold, white gold, sapphires, yellow sapphires and rubies. The piece could be worn as a short or long necklace, a bracelet, belt, or clip because of the hidden clip installed in the back.

“What we try to express in our collections is the true richness of nature, from the silhouette of flowers to bouquets. Flowers have been with the maison from 1907 and we continue to play with them. In the Flowerlace collection, the petals are not the same size because it gives an impression of movement, which is something very important to us,” said Bienayme.

Sourcing the stones in both collections, Flowerlace and Fleurs d’Hawaï, has been a labor of love and concentration for Van Cleef & Arpels, which has taken them two years.

Bienayme said that the practice of sourcing near-perfect gemstones is rooted in the brand’s philosophy of transmission and education.

The brand opened its second campus of L’École School for Jewelry Art in Paris last year with hopes of encouraging more young people to pursue jewelry craftsmanship.

The jeweler’s educational arm extends beyond Paris. It has opened several permanent sites in Hong Kong, Dubai and Shanghai with a selection of courses, talks and exhibitions centered around jewelry.

An educational arm in the U.K. is something that Bienayme has in mind, but it hasn’t been fully developed just yet.

Van Cleef & Arpels is not done with its whirlwind romance with the U.K.

The jeweler will be returning to Sadler’s Wells in September to support the production of “We Should Have Never Walked on the Moon” by the dance companies Rambert and (La) Horde Ballet national de Marseille.

In the spring, Van Cleef & Arpels’ dance festival “Dance Reflections” took over London March 12 to April 8 with a total of 15 shows, 16 workshops and 150 dancers involved.

“We continue to pay tribute to ballet in our collections and ‘Dance Reflections’ is not really about putting our logo on an event. We’re investing and supporting choreographers worldwide,” said Bienayme.

Even though there wasn’t a single piece of jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels in sight at “Dance Reflections,” its impact is still recognized by the brand.

“[It has been positive for us] and when it comes to such festivals, it takes time and we have time. We came back to London for a second time because there was a strong interest from the audience in the U.K.,” said Bienayme.

He added that in order to anchor the dance program, it’s a matter of repetition until all audiences become familiar with it.

Movement — as an immersive experience or through jewelry — remains key for Van Cleef & Arpels as they quietly make their way through the world and its gardens and theater stages.