FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 54
VCA Perlee Diamonds Bracelet
A row of polished gold beads that Van Cleef & Arpels once used only as a border became, in 2008, a collection of its own, and in this bangle it frames three tight rows holding 284 diamonds.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- By price in jewelry
- 45 of 100
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- VCARO3YC00, Perlee diamonds bracelet, 3 rows, medium model, 18k yellow gold
- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris
- Diamonds
- 284 round diamonds totaling 3.37 carats (medium model, per the maker)
- Other sizes
- Small model 264 stones, 3.11 carats; large model 294 stones, 3.56 carats
- Bracelet lengths
- 14.5 cm (extra small), 16 cm (small), 17 cm (medium), 18 cm (large)
- Metals
- 18k yellow gold, 18k rose gold, or rhodium-plated 18k white gold
- Collection launched
- 2008
- U.S. retail
- $49,500 in yellow gold; $52,500 in white gold (maker's U.S. site, October 1, 2026)
A border that became a motif
The golden bead began as trim. Van Cleef & Arpels says the motif draws on a decorative detail that edged select pieces in the 1920s, and that by 1948 it had become a motif in its own right. In the late 1940s the beads grew larger and rounder in the house's Couscous and Bagatelle creations, which survive on archive product cards for a Couscous necklace, a Couscous secret watch and Bagatelle earclips and wristwatch, all dated 1949.
From 1963 the Twist creations paired spirals of gold beads with colored stones, lapis lazuli, coral and turquoise among them. The beads also gave texture to animal clips: a little doe and a bird in 1956, a butterfly in 1978. By the late 1960s the bead had become inseparable from the Alhambra clover, where it forms the beaded edge around each motif.
In 2008 the house gave the bead its own collection. Perlee strips the code down to the bead itself, used as structure, texture and ornament at once, in single rows or several, in yellow, rose or white gold.
The house on Place Vendome
In the maker's account, Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef, both from families of jewelry merchants, married in Paris in 1895, and the Maison opened at 22 Place Vendome in 1906. Another account dates the business to 1896 and names Alfred's father-in-law, Salomon Arpels, as co-founder. Their daughter Renee Puissant became artistic director in 1926.
The house won the grand prize at the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris with a bracelet of ruby and diamond roses. It opened at 744 Fifth Avenue in New York in 1940. Richemont acquired it in 1999, and Nicolas Bos, who had led the house since 2013, became Richemont's chief executive in 2024.
Three rows, 284 stones
The Perlee diamonds line sets diamonds between rows of gold beads. In the maker's words, 'the golden bead's roundness blends with precious stones' gathered 'on one or several rows.' On the three-row bangle, the outer edges are lines of polished gold beads and the center carries three rows of round diamonds.
The maker publishes the stone count for each size. In 18k yellow gold, the small model (VCARP5DP00, 16 cm) holds 264 diamonds totaling 3.11 carats and the medium model (VCARO3YC00, 17 cm) holds 284 totaling 3.37 carats. The large model in white gold (VCARO2IW00, 18 cm) holds 294 diamonds totaling 3.56 carats. The medium model in white gold is VCARN9Q100. An extra-small 14.5 cm size is also made.
The house does not publish a color or clarity grade for these bracelets on its product pages. A 2026 report on new Perlee rings says the collection's diamonds are selected for exceptional color and clarity before further in-house quality control. One reseller described a rose gold medium example as set with D to F color, VVS1 to VVS2 clarity diamonds of an estimated 3.11 carats and 9 mm wide; that carat estimate is lower than the 3.37 carats the maker states for the medium model, and the reseller's figures are its own estimates.
How it is made
The maker's product page walks through the stages: working the gold beads, assembling the gold structure, nail setting the diamonds, brush polishing the inside of the bracelet, and final polishing. Nail setting, which a 2026 report on the collection describes as an intricate technique, lets the house set stones close together across a surface.
Polishing is central to the look. The maker says Perlee pieces are polished on both front and back, so they can be admired from every angle, and calls mirror polishing, done by hand, an emblematic technique of the house. The house also filmed the making of the five-row version of the bracelet, which its own archive dates to 2024.
What it costs
This is a current-production reference, so the main price is the maker's own. On October 1, 2026, the maker's U.S. site listed the three-row medium model in yellow gold at $49,500, the same price as the small model in yellow gold. The medium and large models in white gold were each $52,500. In China the yellow gold medium model was listed at 387,000 yuan. These are asking prices for new bracelets, not sales.
Within the Perlee line the three-row diamond bangle sits well above the plain gold pieces and well below the top of the range. The same day, the maker listed a Perlee diamonds cuff bracelet, small model, at $448,000, a five-row Perlee diamonds bracelet in yellow gold at $35,500 and a Perlee clovers bracelet, medium model, at $31,400.
On the resale market, a pre-owned rose gold medium model was offered on October 1, 2026 at $38,500 by a dealer, with its original pouch.
A collection that keeps growing
Perlee has grown steadily since 2008. Five-row rings arrived in 2022, a Perlee watch in 2022, Perlee diamonds earrings and a five-row diamond bracelet in 2024, and in 2026 a series of three-row rings, some crossed by a diagonal line of diamonds and others set with emeralds, sapphires or rubies.
On October 1, 2026, the maker's U.S. site listed 137 Perlee creations, 33 of them bracelets, across sub-lines including Perlee diamonds, Perlee pearls of gold, Perlee signature and Perlee couleurs. The bead that started as a border on 1920s jewels now carries a whole collection.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- 3.37 carats total, 284 round diamonds (medium model, per the maker)
- Color and clarity
- Not published by the maker; one reseller estimated D-F color, VVS1-VVS2 clarity on a rose gold example
- Origin mine
- Not disclosed by the maker
- Cutter
- Not disclosed by the maker
- Metal
- 18k yellow gold
- Length
- 17 cm (medium model)
Timeline
Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef marry in Paris, in the maker's account.
Van Cleef & Arpels opens at 22 Place Vendome.
Through the 1920s, gold beads appear as a decorative detail on select pieces.
The golden bead becomes a motif in its own right.
Archive product cards record Couscous and Bagatelle pieces built on large gold beads.
Twist creations begin pairing gold beads with colored stones.
The first Alhambra long necklace, edged with gold beads, is created.
Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.
The Perlee collection is launched.
Perlee five-row rings and a Perlee watch are introduced.
Perlee diamonds earrings and the five-row Perlee diamonds bracelet are introduced.
New three-row Perlee rings are reported.
The maker's U.S. site lists the three-row medium bracelet at $49,500 in yellow gold.
The world in 2008
Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes Sichuan, China, killing an estimated 87,000 people.
The Beijing Summer Olympics open, the first Games held in China.
A proton beam circulates for the first time in the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.
Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, the climax of the financial crisis.
Barack Obama is elected the 44th president of the United States.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | $49,500 | Asking price, not a saleMaker's U.S. retail for VCARO3YC00, 3 rows, medium model, 18k yellow gold, live product page. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $38,500 | Asking price, not a saleDealer asking price for a pre-owned rose gold medium model, with original pouch. |
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 Diamonds Bracelet is number 45 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 (54 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The maker publishes exact stone counts: 264 diamonds on the small three-row bangle, 284 on the medium and 294 on the large.
- On the maker's U.S. site the small and medium yellow gold models cost the same, $49,500, even though the medium has 20 more diamonds.
- The golden bead at the heart of Perlee started out as a border detail on 1920s jewels.
- A five-row Perlee diamonds bracelet listed for less than this three-row bangle on October 1, 2026: $35,500.
- The top of the Perlee range, a diamond cuff bracelet, small model, was listed at $448,000.
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