Once again spring has sprung for Van Cleef & Arpels and Rockefeller Center. The jeweler tasked French Artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet with creating the “Spring Is Blooming” installation at the New York landmark for the first three weeks of May.
“The arrival of spring is our most important annual celebration each year at Van Cleef & Arpels,” explained Helen King, president and chief executive officer of Van Cleef & Arpels Americas via a release. “It is a chance for us to bring perhaps our most significant, long-standing inspirational themes of florals and nature to the public. We are thrilled to have planted this ‘Blooming’ artistry by our dear friend Alexandre Benjamin Navet at Rockefeller Center. We take enormous pride in this beautiful opportunity to enchant our neighbors, visitors and friends in the spirit of renewal, optimism and love of city and culture this May.”
The maison first collaborated with Navet, a multidisciplinary artist, in 2020 to adorn multiple boutique facades with his work and commissioned him in 2022 and 2024 for Van Cleef & Arpels floral celebrations in Midtown Manhattan. The 2025 edition sees him reimagine the Art Deco space into a colorful French garden with interactive elements and a sketch-like design to welcome the season for locals and visitors alike. Navet’s inspiration? A kind of poetic daydream, he told WWD. “We imagined a place where visitors could look up and be amazed by a blossoming canopy, like taking a deep breath in the heart of nature. I hope people feel invited to slow down, to see familiar spaces differently — maybe take a moment to read a book, snap a photo, chat with a friend, or play with their kids near an imaginary fountain.”
Van Cleef & Arpels’ “Spring Is Blooming” returns to Rockefeller Center.
Courtesy VCA
Tasked with reinventing this project for the past few years, the artist said each chapter is a chance to explore a fresh facet of this ongoing dialogue. “We always begin with original artworks — that’s our foundation. This year, I experimented with watercolor and colored pencil sketches.” From there, he collaborates closely with Van Cleef & Arpels to translate that vision into window displays, façades and installations. “Together, we crafted a new palette just for this season: mossy and vivid greens, sunny yellow, soft purples, sky blue and cherry blossom pink — colors that bring spring to life in our own poetic way.”
Van Cleef & Arpels’ “Spring Is Blooming” returns to Rockefeller Center for 2025.
Courtesy VCA
For the first three weekends in the month of May, Van Cleef & Arpels engages the public with a variety of programming highlighted by cultural partners of the maison and activities designed for families and visitors of all ages. Dance performances, children’s storybook readings, painting, poetry readings and photography vignettes will be animated from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Spring-themed surprises await guests during open hours. At night, the installations illuminate, with the seasonal motif of the facade mirrored at the maison’s New York Flagship on 57th Street and boutique on Madison Avenue and East 62nd Street.
“Honestly, I never imagined I’d one day create an installation at Rockefeller Center — it really feels like a dream the maison made possible, with so much generosity and high expectations,” Navet said. “Over the years, we’ve gotten to know each other really well, and that trust opens the door to bigger, more inspiring conversations. Nature is a constant source of inspiration for me — it’s always changing, always coming back to life, especially in spring.”