French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels has opened an exhibition at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, presenting show-stopping pieces from its extensive archive.
Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love showcases more than 280 jewellery pieces, watches and objet d’art that span the history of the maison from 1906 to the present day. These are supported by more than 90 original documents, including notebooks, sketches and gouache drawings, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how these creations came into being. The event occupies 12 rooms on the ground floor of the museum, and will run until April 15.
Opening the exhibition, Nicolas Bos, president of Van Cleef and Arpels, explained why it was important to present Van Cleef ’s heritage to the region. “We believe that jewellery is primarily a form of art,” he said, referencing 33 snail shells found in Morocco’s Bizmoune Cave in 2021. Believed to have been worn as a necklace, and estimated to be between 140,000 and 150,000 years old, they are the oldest example of jewellery in existence. The desire to adorn ourselves, Bos notes, is as old as history. “The very nature of jewellery is associated with every culture.”
Having already shown in Milan and Shanghai, the exhibition has been comprehensively redesigned to offer a unique experience in Riyadh. “It is one editorial approach, but three different countries, three different venues, three different exhibitions,” explains Lise Macdonald, director of patrimony and exhibitions at Van Cleef. “This is a very large-scale project and it takes two to three years to prepare.”
Bringing together priceless jewels from the company archive, as well as private collections – including some that have never been shown in public before – the exhibition is an opportunity to revel in the splendour of one-of-a-kind jewellery. Curator Alba Cappellieri, professor of design of jewellery and fashion accessories at the Politecnico di Milano, explains how the three main themes were chosen. “The exhibition is organised along the three themes of the title, which I consider the most important values in life,” she says.
Inspired by the work of Italian writer Italo Calvino, Cappellieri has imagined the collection through the prism of his work Six Memos for the Next Millennium, resulting in an elegant, almost languid exhibition. Rather than crowd the jewels together, she presents less, but with more space to be fully appreciated. “Gemstones are probably the most amazing gift we receive from nature,” she says.
In the opening section, time has been interpreted in two ways by Cappellieri. “Here time is narrated both as chronos, time measured by hours and minutes, and also as kairos, poetical and emotional time.”
This translates literally, with pieces such as an Art Deco lapel watch in platinum and white diamonds from 1924 and a Ludo bracelet watch from 1949, both with secret dials; and more poetically, as fleeting moments captured, as seen on the etched lid of a 1945 gold powder box that shows people strolling past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Then it becomes more esoteric, as a celebration of the hundreds of hours required to create a single piece. The Nazli Necklace, for example, was made in 1939 for Queen Nazli of Egypt, and features strands of white diamonds held by curling ribbons of gemstones.
Also on display is a Maharaja-esque emerald necklace of such complexity that each gemstone has been hand carved into a plump cushion, and a collaret from 1929 featuring interlaced diamonds framing teardrop emeralds.
Elsewhere, cabinets are filled with golden ropes twisted into bold necklaces, a fragile collar of golden mesh so intricate only a handful of people have the know-how to create it, and the Serge Fabric necklace, from 1953, crafted from woven gold so supple it sits loosely knotted around the neck, with a golden tassel held in place by a diamond clip.
Then there is the famous Van Cleef & Arpels Zip necklace, a house masterpiece. Inspired by the humble zip, it is so technically ingenious, it took the atelier 13 years to perfect it and even today is so time consuming to produce – each one taking a minimum of 400 hours to create – that few are made.
Such pieces are beautiful, however, they are so removed from the everyday that they risk being intimidating. Here, they are brought together and made accessible by Johanna Grawunder, the architect, designer and artist who created the exhibition’s scenography. Tasked with designing a cohesive visual setting for the gems, she looked to the desert landscapes surrounding Riyadh, and the “sunsets and sunrises that are washing this neutral palette”.
“All the colour is coming from light, only light. We start with light effects, with a sunrise in the first room, going through a series of thematic colours that move with the content. We have an aurora borealis in the middle, we have a desert sky and then we end with a sunset. It is all created with very high technology and digital effects.”
Presented in unobtrusive cabinets, the mounts that cradle each piece seem to be invisible, creating the magical sensation that each piece is floating in mid- air. There are two pieces of jewellery that have been singled out for different treatment, however, and are housed in cabinets with light that periodically fades to black. One is a tiara that was made for Princess Grace of Monaco for the wedding of her daughter Caroline in 1979, and the other is the Barquerolles choker, a diamond-studded jewel decorated with a lion’s head and gifted to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton on the birth of their first grandchild.
But, befitting the whimsical ethos of Van Cleef & Arpels, not every piece on display carries such historic significance. There are flocks of exotic birds, including a Bird of Paradise clip from 1942 with ruby wings and a sapphire tail, a troupe of pirouetting ballerinas and tiny, fluttering fairies, their movements captured forever as brooches. There are tiny jewelled animals gathered into a charming menagerie, while the show finishes with a meadow of floral brooches so marvellous, even their shadows are stunning.
Of course, each piece is a technical virtuoso, a marvel of creativity and expertise, conjured from the finest materials by the most skilled hands. Yet, looking at a parade of 1950s poodle brooches, or a koi carp transformed into a gold bracelet that coils around the wrist, it is hard not to be seduced by the sheer charisma on show.
Julian Marchenoir, Van Cleef ’s marketing and communications director for Middle East and India, sums up what the house, which began with the marriage of Estelle Arpels to Alfred Van Cleef in 1895, wants to bring to the Middle East: “The beauty of nature, the preciousness of time and an everlasting love story.”
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
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British & Irish Lions 15
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
