As part of its “Sous Les Étoiles” High Jewelry collection in 2021, Van Cleef & Arpels unveiled the Déesse Mercure brooch, a creation inspired by the vast beauty of the cosmos, blending poetic imagination with mythological storytelling. Its name, Déesse Mercure, translates to “Goddess of Mercury” in French.
In this enchanting piece, one can recognize the Maison’s signature “ballet dancer” aesthetic — the drop-shaped, rose-cut diamond forming the fairy’s face, the flowing gown that flutters as if caught in celestial wind, and the ballet slippers adorned with rubies and four-pointed star motifs.
In her hands, the goddess holds a 5.1-carat cabochon-cut white opal, chosen to symbolize Mercury — the smallest and innermost planet of the solar system. With its thin atmosphere and proximity to the Sun, Mercury is often veiled by solar brilliance and can be glimpsed only at dawn or dusk. The white opal, with its translucent luminosity and shifting play of colors, mirrors Mercury’s elusive, romantic glow.
Radiating from the central opal is a burst of light, crafted through alternating mirror-polished yellow gold rays and graduated round diamonds, producing a dazzling and dynamic brilliance. Between these radiant beams, pink sapphire stars are delicately set, subtly echoing the hues of the goddess’s shimmering gown and completing this poetic vision of celestial beauty.
