Princess Charlene has her very own version of the famous Alhambra necklace that she wore to the opening of the newly refurbished Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in Monaco. Van Cleef & Arpels are right at home in the sun-drenched glamour of Monaco and with a new princess now officially in residence it seemed like a good time to give the boutique a sprucing up. As official supplier to the principality of Monaco since 1956, it was fitting that Van Cleef & Arpels should revamp its Place du Casino boutique to coincide with the wedding of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene. At the re-opening of the Annoushka Hempel designed boutique that is as much dove grey clad luxe private apartment with plush velvet sofas as it is a selling space, Princess Charlene graced the event wearing her very own Alhambra necklace.
To mark the occasion, Van Cleef & Arpels created this limited edition of 15 Princess Charlene Alhambra sets, available only at the Van Cleef & Arpels Monaco Boutique. The long necklace belly-button grazing necklace and earrings are paved with diamonds and embellished with turquoises, the blue and white evoking the shores of the Principality. Van Cleef & Arpels most skilled jewellers known as the "Mains d'Or" or 'Golden Hands' have designed an extremely refined stone-setting architecture especially for this set where the gold disappears so that the diamonds can take centre-stage. Different size diamonds sparkle out and exalt the cool sea-blue of the turquoise. On the back the honeycomb open-work settings having been perfected to let even more light refract into the diamonds. The set has a value of € 102,700 and a portion of the profits from the sales of the set will be donated to the charitable associations and foundations supported by H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco. One set was donated by Van Cleef & Arpels during the Bal de la Croix Rouge gala dinner on 5 August 2011.
