Princess of Wales’ Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Suite

Happy Birthday to the Princess of Wales, who turns 42 today! The future Queen has worn a plethora of Royal Heirlooms over the years, which we covered in our series on the Jewels of the Princess of Wales, but today we are featuring her striking Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Suite!

The Magic Alhambra Necklace features six mother-of-pearl quatrefoil motifs set on a gold chain, with the earrings composed of two mother-of-pearl quatrefoil motifs.

Created in 2006 by Van Cleef & Arpels, the Magic Alhambra® jewellery creations gather different-sized Alhambra motifs, coming together in a joyful dance. Inspired by the clover leaf, their asymmetric designs feature different associations of materials.

These Magic Alhambra gold chain necklace features 6 mother-of-pearl quatrefoil motifs set in yellow gold beads.

Queen Camilla owns several pieces of Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Jewellery, so it is quite likely that this suite was a gift to the Princess of Wales from King Charles and Queen Camilla.

A value dear to the Maison, luck has been a perennial guiding light for Van Cleef & Arpels, inspiring some of its most iconic creations. Four-leaf clover motifs first appeared in the Maison’s archives as early as the 1920s, embellishing select creations over the years alongside other symbols of good fortune, including wooden talismans, charms, and benevolent fairies. Jacques Arpels, the nephew of the founding couple and an avid collector, would often pick four-leaf clovers in his backyard, offering them to his employees as good luck charms.

In 1968, the Maison created the first Alhambra® long necklace, composed of 20 clover-shaped motifs in creased yellow gold and trimmed with gold beads. This symbolic design achieved immediate success and was recognized throughout the world as a token of luck, emblematic of Van Cleef & Arpels.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Suite was debuted by the then Duchess of Cambridge at the 2020 British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) Ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The following appearance came in 2022, when the Duchess of Cambridge wore the Alhambra Suite for a Reception hosted by the Governor General of the Bahamas, Sir Cornelius Alvin Smith, and Lady Smith at the Baha Mar Beach Resort, during a visit to the Bahamas.

The most notable appearance of the Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Suite came on the now Princess of Wales at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle in May 2023, reinforcing the theory that it had been a gift from King Charles and Queen Camilla.

More recently, the Princess of Wales wore the Alhambra Earrings for her Together at Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey and there is no doubt we will continue to see it worn for years to come!