We pull up on the driveway of the century-old former home of the Nai Lert family, one of Thailand’s most prominent. A calm, lush expanse of park strewn with heritage buildings, the Nai Lert Park Heritage Home feels a million miles from the surrounding noise and traffic chaos of Bangkok, providing a welcome sense of peace as we prepare to view Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest high jewellery collection, Treasure of Rubies.
And serenity is what is required to fully appreciate the pageantry of the collection, which comprises a staggering 3,000 carats of rubies set in 60 high jewellery pieces—20 of which are transformable—displayed on white stone busts.
The French maison chose a glasshouse in the heritage compound to show the lustrous collection, with natural light coming from every direction to best animate the fiery red hue of the rubies. The effect is spectacular, and I’m instantly aware I’ll probably never again see such a display of exceptional stones and jewellery in one place.
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Treasure of Rubies is the latest addition to Van Cleef & Arpels’ Pierres de Caractère collections, which pay homage to the beauty of specific gems—their enchanting hues and the emotions they evoke—as opposed to the maison’s figurative, conceptual collections, such as last year’s memorable Quatre Contes de Grimm inspired by the tales of the Brothers Grimm.
“If you look back at our history, indeed we are known for our designs, our fantastical themes and, of course, our signature mystery setting,” says Nicolas Luchsinger, president of Van Cleef & Arpels Asia-Pacific. “But perhaps unknown to many, the house has also owned some of the most important and incredible gemstones in history. One was a 95-carat pear-shaped yellow diamond once owned by opera singer and socialite Ganna Walska which we set on a gold flying bird now known as the Walska brooch. We love precious stones and it is through collections like these that we are able to pay homage to the glory of the stones themselves—their character, personality and diversity.”
The making of the Jardin de Rubis necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels. (Photo: Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels) 
A drawing of the Amour Sacré clip by Van Cleef & Arpels. (Photo: Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Treasure of Rubies took at least a decade to complete, says Luchsinger, who is the director of the maison’s Heritage Collection. “Demand is so high for rubies right now and supply is very limited—increasingly, too, as time goes by. As such it was quite an achievement to be able to bring together this many rubies of such superior quality.” Indeed, top-quality rubies, a stone the Indians call “the king of gems,” are rarer and more valuable than diamonds.
While it’s one thing to find such individual rubies, it’s quite another to match the stones. “For instance, if you want to create a necklace with 15 or 20 stones, you want them all to be of the same quality, colour and saturation,” says Luchsinger. “And this takes time, especially longer today when you find fewer and fewer coloured stones. That’s why it took us 10 years.”
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Van Cleef & Arpels has a dedicated team to do this. Its members travel the world to find the best stones and bring them back to the design team at the maison’s Paris atelier, which is on the top floor of its building to ensure it receives the best natural light. “These two teams work collaboratively, whether it’s a thematic collection or a stone-focused one,” says Luchsinger. “It’s a fascinating dynamic.”
Given the inventiveness and ingenuity apparent in Van Cleef & Arpels’ thematic high jewellery collections, I imagine the designers have to practise some restraint when working on the stone-focused collections. But to my delight, while a few of the Treasure of Rubies pieces lean towards classical style, most display an unmistakeable Van Cleef & Arpels touch. As Luchsinger explains, “It’s very difficult to make a diamond ring, for instance, recognisable and distinct. Fortunately for us, we managed to establish a very unique signature that’s just ours. Take our mystery setting; you see a piece in that setting and right away you know it’s a Van Cleef & Arpels. With the careful guidance and direction of Nicolas Bos, our CEO and creative director, our designs—no matter if it’s a subtle one or a showpiece—are consistent and have that unmistakeable Van Cleef & Arpels DNA.”
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Rubis Flamboyant transformable necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels. (Photo: Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels) 
The Amour Sacré clip by Van Cleef & Arpels. (Photo: Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels)
