Last week, the pharaohs came to Paris for the unveiling of Van Cleef & Arpels’ new high jewellery collection, Fascinating Egypt – a breathtaking suite of 180 creations, years in the making and featuring some of the most exceptional gemstones the Maison has assembled in recent memory.
In true Van Cleef & Arpels fashion, the grand gala staged beneath the glittering silhouette of the Eiffel Tower at the Palais de Chaillot was a spectacle unto itself. Pharaoh-clad dancers, acrobats, opera singers and towering Egyptian boats laden with ancient-inspired feasts transported guests into a fantastical vision of antiquity.
Yet for all the theatre, the jewels were the stars. Models glided through the Palais adorned in Van Cleef & Arpels’ artistry: sculptural clips and brooches, cascading necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings and elaborate back jewels, each piece a miniature tableau inspired by the iconography, mythology and landscapes of ancient Egypt, rendered in the Maison’s most precious stones.
But the question on everyone’s lips was why Egypt, and why now? The answer lies in a fascination that’s captivated the Western imagination for centuries. Ancient Egypt has long exerted an irresistible pull through its pharaohs, pyramids, mythology and artistic legacy. The Romans adorned their villas with Egyptian motifs, Marie Antoinette developed a passion for Egyptian decorative arts, and the arrival of the Luxor Obelisk in Paris in 1836 sparked renewed interest across Europe.
But it was one discovery that changed everything.In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, igniting a cultural phenomenon that became known as “Egyptomania”. The world fell under Egypt’s spell. The craze helped shape the emerging Art Deco movement and influenced architecture, fashion, design and jewellery throughout the 20th century. More than a century later, the fascination endures, from films, fabulous and music to the millions who continue to flock to the pyramids each year.
It was during this period that Van Cleef & Arpels’ own relationship with Egypt began to flourish. When the Maison was founded in 1906, Egypt was already enjoying a cultural resurgence. The Paris premiere of the ballet Cléopâtre immersed audiences in a vivid fantasy of ancient Egypt through its dramatic costumes and opulent sets. Yet Carter’s discovery 16 years later proved transformative. Inside Tutankhamun’s tomb, archaeologists encountered an extraordinary treasure trove of gold, gemstones and ceremonial objects – treasures that reignited global fascination with the Egypt of the pharaohs and left a profound impression on the Maison itself.
Van Cleef & Arpels responded immediately, creating a series of Egyptian-inspired jewels between 1923 and 1925. Ten of those original creations remain in the Maison’s Patrimonial Collection today and are currently on display at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Running until September 29, the exhibition brings together approximately 500 exceptional works, pairing more than 300 archival Van Cleef & Arpels high jewellery pieces with masterpieces from the museum’s own collection.
A century later, that same spirit of discovery runs through Fascinating Egypt. At its heart, the collection is a masterclass in gemstone sourcing. Among its highlights is a remarkable 10.02-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond, the centrepiece of the Beauté légendaire necklace, a flexible diamond-set breastplate inspired by the ceremonial adornments of Egyptian royalty.
Sri Lanka yielded two further standout stones: a 28.08-carat cabochon sapphire in the Esprit de l’univers necklace and a 26.21-carat oval pink sapphire in the transformable Promesse souveraine set. Colombian emeralds appear throughout the collection, including a 15.46-carat round emerald in the Vestige de l’âme necklace and a 15.21-carat square-cut emerald paired with an 8.06-carat carved emerald bead in the Mémoire du temps long necklace.
Yet the collection’s true achievement lies in its storytelling. The Rivage égyptien necklace, set with 37 pear-shaped Zambian emeralds totalling 41.58 carats, evokes the fertile landscapes of the Nile through representations of water, papyrus reeds and birds in flight. Elsewhere, a trio of mythological clips — Bénou Mystérieux, Griffon Mystérieux and Bastet Mystérieuse — bring sacred creatures to life through Van Cleef’s signature “mystery set” technique. Muse éternelle and Pharaon sacré revive the Maison’s tradition of figurative jewellery, depicting Cleopatra and a pharaoh in diamonds, rubies and gold.
Even the Paysage secret bracelet conceals a hidden message. Inscribed between its columns in hieroglyphics are the words “Horizon of eternity”, while a bespoke hieroglyphic cartouche featuring the Van Cleef & Arpels monogram appears throughout the collection as a discreet signature – a subtle link between this contemporary saga and the Maison’s century-long fascination with the land of the pharaohs.
Among the most compelling pieces is an emerald and diamond necklace inspired by the original Van Cleef & Arpels creation crafted for the 1939 wedding of Princess Fawzia of Egypt and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then Crown Prince of Iran. Reimagined for the present day, it retains all the grandeur of the original masterpiece, which can now be viewed as part of the MAK exhibition in Vienna.
Fascinating Egypt follows a series of narrative-driven high jewellery collections that have become a hallmark of the Maison’s creative approach. There was Treasure Island in 2025, inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure classic; Le Grand Tour in 2023, celebrating the great European journeys undertaken by aristocratic travellers; Legend of Diamonds in 2022, devoted entirely to exceptional white diamonds; and Sous les Étoiles in 2021, a celestial exploration of stars, galaxies and the cosmos.
Together, they reveal something fundamental about Van Cleef & Arpels. At a time when so much of modern life is dominated by technology, algorithms and AI, the Maison continues to champion imagination, craftsmanship and storytelling. Its collections are not simply displays of extraordinary gemstones; they’re invitations into richly imagined worlds where artistry remains the ultimate luxury.
But if you were hoping to snap up one of the pieces from Fascinating Egypt, there’s one final twist. Apparently, all pieces were purchased before the launch, making this one of the most successful collections in recent years, proving yet again that ancient Egypt continues to fascinate the world.
