A repeated shape can become a kind of punctuation. The Alhambra motif does this particularly well: a rounded four-lobed outline, a defined edge, then a little interval before the next. Change the stone and the sentence keeps its rhythm. I find that capacity for variation more interesting than the familiar language of good luck surrounding it.
Van Cleef & Arpels dates the first Alhambra necklace to 1968. Its recognizable shape holds together a considerable range of materials. Blue agate gives the motif a particularly clear edge against skin and gold. The Tiffany Setting concentrates attention on a single stone, while Alhambra can give as much pleasure through a sequence.
The house’s Paris associations are part of its setting. The close work belongs to jewelry specialists, who can explain a surface without reducing it to a color. For a more complicated transformation, look at the house’s Zip necklace. One maison, two quite different ways to make a line of jewelry move.