FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 52
VCA Magic Alhambra Long Necklace, 1 Motif
Jacques Arpels handed out four-leaf clovers he picked in his own backyard. Decades later his clover became the Paris jeweler's best-known shape, and the Magic version blows it up into one oversized gold charm on a long chain.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- By price in jewelry
- 79 of 100
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Create a free account- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris (founded 1896; Place Vendôme since 1906)
- Collection
- Alhambra, created 1968; the Magic Alhambra line was conceived in 2006
- This entry
- Magic Alhambra long necklace, 1 motif, guilloché 18K yellow gold
- Reference
- VCARP4KO00
- Motif
- A single large clover motif. Van Cleef calls the Magic designs 'boldly asymmetrical'
- Stones
- None in this version; other versions use carnelian, malachite, onyx, mother-of-pearl or diamonds
- Van Cleef US price
- $9,700, October 2026
- Resale ask seen
- $10,925 for a guilloché yellow gold example, October 2026
A family that believed in luck
Van Cleef & Arpels was founded in Paris in 1896 by Alfred Van Cleef, a Dutch diamond cutter, and his father-in-law, Salomon Arpels. In 1906, after Salomon's death, Alfred and two of his brothers-in-law, Charles and Julien Arpels, took space at 22 Place Vendôme, across from the Hôtel Ritz, and opened the firm's first boutique.
Luck was a theme long before the Alhambra. Van Cleef says four-leaf clover motifs appear in its archives as early as 1906, alongside wooden talismans, charms and fairies. Its archive holds product cards for a Clover brooch from 1933, another from 1936 and a Clover clip from 1948.
Jacques Arpels, the nephew of the founding couple, used to pick four-leaf clovers in his backyard and give them to employees. According to the house, he paired them with the English poem 'Don't Quit.' His motto, as Van Cleef quotes it, was 'To be lucky, you have to believe in luck.'
1968: twenty clovers on a chain
In the 1950s the house started reaching a new kind of customer. In 1954 it opened La Boutique in Paris, a line of more accessible jewelry for women who wanted pieces to wear in the daytime, not only at night. The Alhambra grew out of that idea.
In 1968 Van Cleef & Arpels made the first Alhambra long necklace: 20 clover-shaped motifs in creased, textured yellow gold, trimmed with gold beads. The house says it was an immediate success. The name honors the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, and the shape draws on both the four-leaf clover and the Moorish quatrefoil.
The necklace became a 1970s signature. Van Cleef's archive shows Françoise Hardy in 1973 wearing two Alhambra sautoirs, and Romy Schneider wearing one while shooting Le Mouton Enragé the same year. A 1979 photograph shows Princess Grace of Monaco wearing three at once. She layered them in coral, malachite, rock crystal and tortoiseshell.
The double row of gold beads around each motif became, in the house's words, 'a true stylistic signature.' The collection later grew to include watches, starting in 1998, as well as reversible rings and transformable long necklaces.
Magic: the clover at a new scale
Van Cleef says it conceived the Magic Alhambra creations in 2006. One market history places the line's introduction more loosely, 'in the early 2000s.' Where the Vintage Alhambra uses identical motifs of one size, Magic pieces mix motifs of different sizes. Van Cleef calls them 'boldly asymmetrical' and describes them as 'united in a joyful dance.'
The materials vary as much as the sizes. Van Cleef lists carnelian, tiger's eye, white and gray mother-of-pearl, white gold and diamonds among them. At the top of the line, a Magic Alhambra transformable long necklace with 15 motifs, in white gold with chalcedony and mother-of-pearl, was priced at $39,700 in the US in 2026.
The single-motif long necklace is the simplest form of the idea: one large clover on a long chain. In the version this entry tracks, the motif is guilloché 18K yellow gold with no stones, the same finish Van Cleef uses on one face of its Vintage Alhambra reversible ring.
How to identify one
Van Cleef sells the all-gold version as reference VCARP4KO00, 'Magic Alhambra long necklace, 1 motif, guilloché 18K yellow gold.' Versions with a stone in the clover carry other references, among them mother-of-pearl, onyx, carnelian and malachite.
A guilloché example listed for resale in October 2026 gave estimated measurements of 29.5 inches long, adjustable to 35.75 inches, with an ornament about 1.5 inches long and 1 inch wide. It weighed 20.1 grams in all. Its listed marks were the designer signature, the French eagle's head, a maker's mark, a serial number and 'Au 750,' the 18-karat gold standard. Stone versions listed by the same reseller showed the same 1.5 by 1 inch ornament, with total weights of 16.0 to 16.8 grams.
Every example listed carried the same set of marks, so the signature, eagle's head, maker's mark and serial number are the details to check, along with any paperwork. Those listings came with different extras: one with only a pouch, others with a certificate of authenticity, a travel case or a box. One malachite example's listing measured the stone at 23.80 by 23.80 mm.
Boutique and resale
In October 2026 Van Cleef's US boutique priced the single-motif guilloché yellow gold necklace at $9,700. On the same page the house listed a Vintage Alhambra necklace with 10 all-gold motifs at $13,800 and a Vintage Alhambra pendant in yellow gold at $4,250.
Resale asks for the single-motif necklace that month ran above and below that figure, depending on the version. A guilloché yellow gold example, sold with a jewelry pouch, was offered at $10,925, above the boutique price. Stone versions were offered for less. A carnelian example was listed at $6,507.50, and two malachite examples at $7,150 and $7,645. A white gold version paved with 60 round diamonds totaling 2.55 carats was offered at $34,995. All of these are asking prices, not sales.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- None: the all-gold guilloché version has no stones
- Color/clarity grade
- Not applicable to this version (the diamond version seen for resale was graded colorless, VVS)
- Origin mine
- Not applicable; not stated by any source
- Cutter
- Not applicable; made by Van Cleef & Arpels
- Metal
- 18K yellow gold (Au 750), guilloché finish
- Chain length (resale estimate)
- 29.5" adjustable to 35.75"
- Motif size (resale estimate)
- About 1.5" x 1"
- Total weight (resale listing)
- 20.1 g
- Reference
- VCARP4KO00
Timeline
Alfred Van Cleef and Salomon Arpels found the business in Paris.
The first boutique opens at 22 Place Vendôme. Clover motifs begin appearing in the archives.
A product card records a Clover brooch.
A product card records a Clover clip.
Van Cleef & Arpels launches La Boutique in Paris for more accessible daytime jewelry.
The first Alhambra long necklace is made: 20 clover motifs in textured yellow gold edged with gold beads.
Françoise Hardy and Romy Schneider are photographed wearing Alhambra long necklaces.
Princess Grace of Monaco is photographed wearing three Alhambra sautoirs.
Alhambra watches appear.
Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.
Van Cleef conceives the Magic Alhambra line, with motifs in varying sizes.
Nicolas Bos becomes head of Van Cleef & Arpels.
Nicolas Bos is appointed chief executive of Richemont.
Van Cleef's US price for the 1-motif guilloché yellow gold long necklace is $9,700.
The world in 2006
NASA launches New Horizons, the first probe sent to Pluto.
The Winter Olympics open in Turin, Italy.
Twitter is launched.
Montenegro declares independence from Serbia and Montenegro.
Italy beats France in the World Cup final in Germany.
The International Astronomical Union reclassifies Pluto as a dwarf planet.
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is executed.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | $9,700 | Asking price, not a saleVan Cleef & Arpels US boutique price, reference VCARP4KO00, guilloché 18K yellow gold, 1 motif. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $10,925 | Asking price, not a saleResale listing, guilloché 18K yellow gold, 20.1 g, with jewelry pouch only. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, VCA Magic Alhambra Long Necklace, 1 Motif is number 79 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (52 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The first Alhambra necklace, in 1968, carried 20 identical clover motifs. The Magic single-motif necklace has just one.
- Jacques Arpels handed out four-leaf clovers along with the English poem 'Don't Quit.'
- Clover motifs appear in Van Cleef's archives as early as 1906, more than 60 years before the Alhambra.
- Princess Grace of Monaco was photographed in 1979 wearing three Alhambra sautoirs at once.
- In October 2026 a used guilloché single-motif necklace was offered for more than Van Cleef's own boutique price for a new one.
- The Alhambra is named for the palace in Granada, and its shape draws on the Moorish quatrefoil as well as the clover.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026