MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

When archaeologist Howard Carter stumbled upon King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922—revealing what the New York Times called “undreamed-of splendors,” including gilded court sandals, their soles imprinted with the faces of Egypt’s enemies, and a gold cobra necklace—few could have predicted that the discovery would kick off a craze for ancient Egypt–inspired design that would dominate the decade. Designer Paul Poiret got in on so-called “Tutmania” with pieces like a sparkling gold dropwaist dress decorated in Egyptian-style emblems, while bobbed hair and kohl eyeliner became beauty fads among flappers.
In the jewelry realm, Van Cleef & Arpels combined the theme with Art Deco design, producing showpieces that were threaded with metal grains accenting the gems. The baubles were decorated with motifs like hieroglyphs and sphinxes; today, they are highly prized by collectors.
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Over the next century, the ripples spread outward as the house continued to explore the technique. In the 1940s came the Couscous collection, with clusters of gold beads that mimicked the Mediterranean culinary staple. The era also saw the Bagatelle collection embrace the concept.
By the 1960s, the beading got bolder, in keeping with the era’s more boundary-pushing aesthetic. The Twist collection incorporated the savoir-faire alongside other materials like coral and cultured pearls, and later in the decade, gold beads decorated styles from the Alhambra collection (worn by another royal figure and longtime Van Cleef client, Princess Grace of Monaco). The house has even used the gold beading technique to animate its beloved miniature animal clips, depicting everything from fawns to butterflies to entwined lovebirds.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1357654597/1717055600/articles/OZjmUlp_M17170677645...