I mean, you see that clover thing, the Alhambra, *everywhere*. It’s basically the brand. And that’s…fine. But what if you just took that away? Would you *still* know it was Van Cleef & Arpels? Good question, innit?
The thing is, I think, like, with *some* of their stuff, yeah, probably. Those really elaborate, kind of fairytale-ish pieces? The butterflies, the ballerinas? That’s pretty distinct, even without the little VCA stamp. You can’t really mistake that level of craftsmanship, or the, uh, *aesthetic*, for, like, Claire’s. No offense to Claire’s. I still shop there sometimes, tbh.
But then you have other stuff, right? Like, those gold necklaces with the “unique rows, elegantly crafted”? I read that somewhere in the snippets you gave me. What *does* “elegantly crafted” even mean, anyway? Gold rows. Could be anything, right? Could be, like, some designer from Etsy. (Again, no shade to Etsy! I love Etsy!).
And the brooches? Apparently they’ve been making brooches since the beginning. Brooches are kinda… well, I don’t know. Brooches don’t scream “Van Cleef & Arpels” to *me*, personally. Unless it’s, you know, a *really* extravagant, diamond-encrusted brooch shaped like a unicorn pooping rainbows. Then maybe.
So, yeah, the whole “logo-less” thing… it’s a tricky one. It kind of comes down to the details, right? And the overall *vibe*. If it’s obviously ridiculously expensive and looks like it belongs in a museum, then yeah, maybe it’s Van Cleef. But if it’s just… nice… then who knows? Maybe it’s just… nice.
