Van Cleef & Arpels, a pair of natural pearl and diamond earrings, circa 1950

Van Cleef & Arpels, a pair of natural pearl and diamond earrings, circa 1950, each with a button-shaped pearl within a scrolling surround set with baguette and marquise shaped diamonds in platinum, signed Van Cleef & Arpels, numbered NY16937, clip fittings, length 2.8cm

Accompanied by SSEF report number 55627 dated 26th February 2010 stating that the pearls are natural saltwater, weighing 10cts and 8.4cts, and measuring 11.80-11.95 x 10.10mm and 11.95-12.00 x 8.40mm.

The elegant design of the present lot closely relates it to a pair of earrings beloved to one of the most iconic couples in history, HSH Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly. Having met in 1954, the year the Hollywood star was on the Côte d’Azure to film Alfred Hitchcock’s film To Catch a Thief, they were engaged in December 1955. For their wedding, Prince Rainier commissioned a lavish parure of diamonds and pearls, chosen with Louis Arpels ‘to match Grace’s delicate beauty’. A famous photograph of Princess Grace immortalises her wearing this set, which is still today in The Princess Grace of Monaco Collection at the Palais Rainier, Monaco. There is an important difference between the royal earrings and the piece offered in our sale, however. While the Princess of Monaco’s pair featured cultured pearls, the earrings in our upcoming sale are set with natural pearls, making them exceptional in their materials as much as in their design.

Cf. Van Cleef & Arpels, The Art of High Jewellery (Les Arts Decoratifs, 2012), pp.284-285.