FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 96
VCA Perlee Clovers Bracelet (18k gold + diamonds, medium)
Rows of tiny polished gold beads that Van Cleef & Arpels first used as trim in the 1920s became a collection of their own in 2008, and in this bangle they frame a ring of diamond-set clovers, 80 stones in all.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- By price in jewelry
- 49 of 100
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- Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris, founded 1896; owned by Richemont since 1999
- Reference
- VCARO3YB00
- Model
- Perlée clovers bracelet, medium model
- Metal
- 18K yellow gold
- Diamonds
- 80 stones, 1.78 carats
- Size
- 17 cm (medium); also made in 14.5, 16, 18 and 19 cm
- Collection launched
- 2008
- U.S. retail
- $31,400 on the maker's U.S. site as of October 3, 2026
Clovers between two rows of gold beads
The Perlée clovers bracelet combines the collection's beaded gold contour with clover motifs set with diamonds, each clover graced, in the maker's words, 'by a golden bead at their center.' The clover is Van Cleef & Arpels' symbol of luck, the same emblem behind its Alhambra jewelry.
The medium model in 18K yellow gold, reference VCARO3YB00, is set with 80 diamonds totaling 1.78 carats, according to the maker's product images. Van Cleef & Arpels sizes it by bracelet length: the medium is 17 cm, with extra small (14.5 cm), small (16 cm), large (18 cm) and extra large (19 cm) models sold under separate references.
The house says the mirror polish on Perlée pieces is applied by hand and on both front and back, so the bracelet can be admired from every angle.
Where the golden bead comes from
Van Cleef & Arpels traces the golden bead to a decorative detail used on select pieces in the 1920s. By 1948, the house says, it had become a motif in its own right. In the late 1940s the beads grew in volume in creations called Couscous and Bagatelle, and from 1963 the Twist designs spiraled golden beads together with lapis lazuli, coral and turquoise.
The bead also became the trim of the Alhambra clover, created in 1968, and of later lines such as Lucky Spring and Lucky Animals. In 2008 the house built a whole collection around it. The maker says the collection was 'born in 2008' to showcase the golden bead as a signature motif; the Perlée signature bracelet and Perlée clovers ring both date from that first year.
The company itself goes back to 1896, when the Dutch diamond cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law, Salomon Arpels, founded it in Paris. The first boutique opened at 22 Place Vendôme in 1906, and the house was acquired by Richemont in 1999.
Launched into a crash
Perlée arrived in 2008, the year of the global financial crisis. On September 15 stocks fell sharply as Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and the year also brought the Beijing Summer Olympics and Barack Obama's election as U.S. president.
The collection has kept expanding since. The maker's archive lists a Perlée couleurs pendant from 2019, a Perlée watch in 2022, and Perlée diamonds earrings and a five-row diamond bracelet in 2024. Today the clover bracelet sits alongside one-row signature bangles, multi-row diamond bracelets and colored-stone versions.
Price, year by year
According to a fashion-news report on Van Cleef & Arpels' April 25, 2025 global price increase, the U.S. price of the Perlée clovers bracelet, medium model, in yellow gold and diamonds rose from $28,800 in 2024 to $29,700, a 3.1 percent increase. The same report said Perlée prices in Europe stayed flat while U.S. prices across the line rose 2.1 to 3.6 percent.
By October 3, 2026, the maker's U.S. site listed reference VCARO3YB00 at $31,400. A related model, the Perlée sweet clovers bracelet, carries 40 diamonds totaling 0.68 carat, according to the maker.
How to identify this model
Several Perlée bracelets look alike at a glance: the line includes clovers, sweet clovers, signature, diamonds and couleurs bracelets, each in several sizes and metals. The medium clovers bracelet in white gold is sold under a different reference, VCARN5B100, with the same 80 stones and 1.78 carats.
For this entry, the defining details are 18K yellow gold, the 17 cm medium size, 80 diamonds totaling 1.78 carats and reference VCARO3YB00. The maker's U.S. page does not publish a diamond color or clarity grade for this model.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- 1.78 carats, 80 diamonds
- Metal
- 18K yellow gold
- Bracelet length
- 17 cm (medium model)
- Reference
- VCARO3YB00
- Finish
- Hand-applied mirror polish, front and back
- Collection launched
- 2008
Timeline
Alfred Van Cleef and Salomon Arpels found the company in Paris.
The first boutique opens at 22 Place Vendôme.
Golden beads appear as a decorative detail on select pieces.
The golden bead becomes a motif in its own right.
Twist creations pair golden beads with lapis lazuli, coral and turquoise.
The Alhambra clover, edged with gold beads, is created.
Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.
The Perlée collection launches with the signature bracelet and clovers ring.
The medium Perlée clovers bracelet in yellow gold retails for $28,800 in the U.S.; five-row Perlée diamonds pieces are added.
A global price increase lifts it to $29,700.
The maker's U.S. site lists reference VCARO3YB00 at $31,400.
The world in 2008
Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
The Summer Olympics open in Beijing.
A proton beam circulates in the Large Hadron Collider for the first time.
Stocks fall sharply as Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy.
Barack Obama is elected president of the United States.
Coordinated terrorist attacks begin in Mumbai.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $28,800 | Asking price, not a saleU.S. retail for the medium Perlée clovers bracelet in yellow gold and diamonds before the April 2025 increase, as reported. |
| Apr 25, 2025 | $29,700 | Asking price, not a saleNew U.S. retail after a 3.1 percent increase, as reported. |
| Oct 3, 2026 | $31,400 | Asking price, not a saleMaker's U.S. retail price for reference VCARO3YB00. |
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 Perlee Clovers Bracelet (18k gold + diamonds, medium) is number 49 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 (96 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Van Cleef & Arpels' golden bead began as a small decorative detail in the 1920s.
- Late-1940s golden bead jewels from the house were called Couscous and Bagatelle.
- The bracelet comes in five lengths, from 14.5 to 19 cm, each with its own reference.
- The white gold version carries exactly the same 80 diamonds and 1.78 carats.
- Its U.S. price rose by $2,600 between 2024 and October 2026.
- Perlée was launched in 2008, the year of the global financial crisis.
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 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026