VCA Perlee Signature/Pearls-of-Gold Bracelet

From trim to signature

Van Cleef & Arpels says its golden bead began as a decorative detail on select pieces in the 1920s and became a motif in its own right by 1948. In the late 1940s the beads swelled into the rounded Couscous and Bagatelle creations, recorded on archive product cards dated 1949. From 1963 the Twist creations wound gold beads into spirals with lapis lazuli, coral and turquoise. By the late 1960s the bead framed every Alhambra clover.

In 2008 the house built a collection around the bead alone and called it Perlee. The maker's own archive shows a Perlee signature bracelet in rose gold dated 2008, which places this bangle at the very start of the collection.

The signature version adds one more house code. Inside a contour of gold beads runs a band engraved with what the maker calls 'the arabesques of a calligraphed Van Cleef & Arpels signature.' The name of the house is the decoration.

Whose signature

The name on the band joins two families. 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 Salomon Arpels, Alfred's father-in-law, as co-founder, with Estelle's brothers Charles and Julien joining Alfred at Place Vendome after Salomon's death and a third brother, Louis, arriving in 1913.

Their daughter Renee Puissant became artistic director in 1926 and gave the house a recognizable style. Van Cleef & Arpels opened its New York flagship at 744 Fifth Avenue in 1940, was acquired by Richemont in 1999, and was led from 2013 by Nicolas Bos, who became Richemont's chief executive in 2024.

How to read one

The bracelet is a bangle with the beaded contour shared across the Perlee line and a central band carrying the engraved signature. The maker says mirror polishing, 'an emblematic technique of the Maison,' is performed by hand, and that Perlee pieces are polished on both front and back so they can be admired from every angle.

References identify metal and size. In yellow gold the medium model is VCARP3K600 and the small model VCARP3K300; the medium in rose gold is VCARP3K700 and in white gold VCARP3K800. The range runs from an extra-small 14.5 cm bangle to an extra-large 19 cm one, so the size matters when comparing examples.

The name causes confusion. The Perlee line has several bead-only bracelets, and the Perlee pearls of gold bracelet, a different design without the engraved band, is sold separately: its medium model in yellow gold (VCARO7A800) was $5,450 on the maker's U.S. site on October 1, 2026. A listing that calls a bracelet simply a 'Perlee bangle' may be either.

What it costs

This is a current-production reference, so its main price is the maker's own. On October 1, 2026, the maker's U.S. site listed the medium yellow gold model at $7,700. The small yellow gold model and the medium rose gold model were also listed at $7,700. These are asking prices for new bracelets, not sales.

Matching pieces have risen in price. In the April 25, 2025 U.S. price round the Perlee signature ring went from $2,680 to $2,760; on October 1, 2026 the maker listed it at $2,920. European Perlee prices were left unchanged in that 2025 round.

On the resale market, on October 1, 2026, a dealer offered a pre-owned yellow gold Perlee signature bracelet, 6.25 inches long and recently polished, with its box, certificate of authenticity and original receipt, at $7,525.

The quiet center of Perlee

Since 2008 Perlee has grown into one of the house's largest collections. On October 1, 2026 the maker's U.S. site listed 137 Perlee creations, 33 of them bracelets, across Perlee diamonds, Perlee pearls of gold, Perlee signature and Perlee couleurs. The house photographs the signature bracelet stacked with diamond Perlee pieces, and says the shared beaded edge lets the creations pair with one another.

A 2026 report on the collection put its appeal in restraint: repetition, proportion and craftsmanship rather than large stones. The signature bracelet is that idea at its plainest, gold beads and a name.

The numbers

Carat weight

None; plain 18k gold, no stones

Color and clarity

Not applicable

Origin mine

Not applicable; gold source not disclosed by the maker

Cutter

Not applicable

Metal

18k yellow gold

Length

17 cm (medium model)

Timeline

1. 1895

   Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef marry in Paris, in the maker's account.

2. 1906

   Van Cleef & Arpels opens at 22 Place Vendome.

3. 1926

   Renee Puissant becomes artistic director.

4. 1948

   The golden bead becomes a motif in its own right.

5. 1949

   Archive product cards record Couscous and Bagatelle pieces built on gold beads.

6. 1963

   Twist creations begin pairing gold beads with colored stones.

7. 1968

   The first Alhambra long necklace, edged with gold beads, is created.

8. 1999

   Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.

9. 2008

   The Perlee collection launches; the maker's archive dates a rose gold Perlee signature bracelet to this year.

10. 2022

    Perlee five-row rings and a Perlee watch are introduced.

11. 2024

    A five-row Perlee diamonds bracelet and Perlee diamonds earrings are introduced.

12. Apr 25, 2025

    U.S. price round; the matching Perlee signature ring rises from $2,680 to $2,760.

13. Oct 1, 2026

    The maker's U.S. site lists the medium yellow gold signature bracelet at $7,700.

The world in 2008

• Feb 17, 2008

  Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.

• May 12, 2008

  A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes Sichuan, China, killing an estimated 87,000 people.

• Aug 8, 2008

  The Beijing Summer Olympics open, the first Games held in China.

• Sep 15, 2008

  Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, the climax of the financial crisis.

• Oct 21, 2008

  The Large Hadron Collider is officially inaugurated in Geneva.

• Nov 4, 2008

  Barack Obama is elected the 44th president of the United States.

Price record

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 Signature/Pearls-of-Gold Bracelet is number 75 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 (55 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The engraving on the band is the jeweler's own name, written as calligraphed arabesques.
• The golden bead that edges the bracelet started as a border detail on 1920s jewels and became a motif of its own by 1948.
• The signature bracelet is made in five lengths, from 14.5 cm to 19 cm.
• On the maker's U.S. site the small and medium yellow gold models cost the same, $7,700.
• The Perlee pearls of gold bracelet looks similar but is a different design, and costs less.