Le Petit Cactus or Alhambra
Mellerio · Van Cleef & Arpels
Le Petit Cactus
The flower of the vanilla cactus, which opens for one night a year, made as a small burst of rose gold stamens around a single stone.
Strung along fine chains, a clover and a cactus flower repeat like charms. Van Cleef & Arpels set its Alhambra clover in 1968 inside a double row of gold beads and has recut it in mother-of-pearl, onyx, malachite and carnelian, and lately in enamel. Mellerio's Le Petit Cactus, from 2019, scatters small bursts of rose-gold stamens, each around one coloured diamond, sapphire or tsavorite. Those blossoms stand up from the chain in little spikes of gold, after a plate by Redouté.
| Fact | Le Petit Cactus | Alhambra |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | 2019 | 1968 |
| Designer | Laure-Isabelle Mellerio | — |
| School | Place Vendôme | Place Vendôme |
| Materials | rose gold, diamond, coloured diamond, sapphire, tsavorite, other | yellow gold, rose gold, white gold, diamond, mother-of-pearl, onyx, malachite, carnelian, enamel |
| Moves | No | No |
| From | €440 | €1,600 |
| Top of line | €4,100 | €211,000 |
Prices in euros as published by each house, October 2026.
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More with Alhambra
- Alhambra or Plume de Paon Boucheron
- Alhambra or Grain de Café Cartier
- Alhambra or Sunflower Harry Winston
- Alhambra or Calla Vhernier