VCA Two Butterfly Between-the-Finger Ring

A ring that sits between the fingers

Since the 1970s Van Cleef & Arpels has made what it calls Between the Finger rings: 'two motifs linked by an open band' that 'behold each other in a delicate tete-a-tete.' Instead of sitting on one finger, the ring opens and its two ends rest on either side of the gap between two fingers, so the design spreads across the hand.

The house's own archive pieces show how early the form took hold: a Two Flowers Between the Finger ring in yellow gold, coral and diamonds from 1972, and Rubens Between the Finger rings in yellow and white gold with diamonds from 1973. The house describes the line as a testimony to its 'innovative and inventive spirit' for more than 40 years, and in October 2026 its US site listed 29 Between the Finger creations, from flowers and Alhambra motifs to birds and butterflies.

The form has also gone into the house's high jewelry. Examples it shows include a Lune d'eau ring with a 4.54-carat pink sapphire from Madagascar and a 3.18-carat D-flawless diamond, and a Flying Butterfly ring in Mystery Set sapphires.

A butterfly from the beginning

Butterflies are among the house's oldest subjects. Van Cleef & Arpels was founded in Paris in 1896 by the diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law, Salomon Arpels, and opened its first boutique at 22 Place Vendome in 1906. The house says butterflies have inspired its creations since that year, and one account says a butterfly first appeared on one of its pieces in 1906. A 2026 magazine article instead dates the butterfly in the house's work to 1960; the house's own date is used here.

Over the following century the butterfly appeared in wood, lacquer, enamel, mother-of-pearl and precious stones, on everything from clips to cigarette cases. The house's archive includes a butterfly clip from 1937 and a butterfly fairy clip from 1945.

The Two Butterfly collection was born in 2001, together with its first Between the Finger ring, set with yellow sapphires and diamonds. In 2010 the house added a Butterfly signature high jewelry collection.

Identifying the all-diamond ring

Reference VCARO61900 is the all-white version: two butterflies in rhodium-plated 18K white gold, both covered in diamonds. The maker's listing counts 70 diamonds totaling 1.67 carats. Many Two Butterfly rings pair two different butterflies, one in diamonds and one in a colored material; this one has no colored stones.

Accounts of the line describe how the butterflies are built. For the 2022 additions, the house set its pave motifs with beads of gold, held the marquise-cut diamond that forms a butterfly's body in prongs, and used diamonds graded D to F in color and IF to VVS2 in clarity. An example matching this reference, offered at auction in Wellington, Florida, in June 2021, was described with 70 diamonds of 1.67 carats, 'diamond quality DEF, IF to VVS,' a weight of 8.5 grams and size 50.

For comparison, a two-tone version of the ring pairs a butterfly of 34 yellow sapphires (0.88 carat) with one of 36 diamonds (0.99 carat). The all-diamond VCARO61900 was the most expensive piece in the Two Butterfly line on the US site in October 2026.

A collection that changes color each spring

The house adds Two Butterfly pieces most springs. Over the years the butterflies have been made in yellow and pink sapphires, diamonds, tsavorite garnets, mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli.

In 2022 turquoise appeared for the first time, on a pendant, earrings and a Between the Finger ring that pair a turquoise butterfly with one in yellow gold, white gold and diamonds. The turquoise was chosen, the house said, for its purity and uniformity of color.

In October 2026 the US site listed 19 Two Butterfly creations, from $9,300 to $33,000, in white, yellow and rose gold with diamonds, sapphires, turquoise, lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl.

Prices

In October 2026 the maker's US site listed the all-diamond ring at $33,000.

On the secondary market, a dealer in Miami Beach offered a size 50 example in white gold with diamonds at an asking price of $27,900; the listing shows it sold more than two years before October 2026, without giving the sale price or exact date. The June 2021 auction listing for another example gave its description but not a realized price in the material reviewed, so no auction result is reported here.

The numbers

Carat weight

1.67 carats total, 70 diamonds

Color and clarity grade

Described as D to F color, IF to VVS clarity on a 2021 auction listing; the maker's page does not state it

Origin mine

Not published

Cutter

Not published; round and marquise cuts, set by Van Cleef & Arpels

Metal

Rhodium-plated 18K white gold

Weight

8.5 grams (one size 50 example)

Timeline

1. 1896

   Alfred Van Cleef and Salomon Arpels found Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris.

2. 1906

   The house opens on Place Vendome; it dates its butterfly creations to the same year.

3. 1937

   Date of a butterfly clip in the house's archive.

4. 1945

   Date of a butterfly fairy clip in the house's archive.

5. 1972

   A Two Flowers Between the Finger ring in yellow gold, coral and diamonds.

6. 1973

   Rubens Between the Finger rings in yellow and white gold with diamonds.

7. 1999

   Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.

8. 2001

   The Two Butterfly collection is born, with its first Between the Finger ring in yellow sapphires and diamonds.

9. 2010

   The house adds a Butterfly signature high jewelry collection.

10. Jun 8, 2021

    An all-diamond Two Butterfly ring, 1.67 carats, size 50, is offered at auction in Wellington, Florida.

11. 2022

    Turquoise appears in the Two Butterfly collection for the first time.

12. Oct 2026

    The maker's US site lists the all-diamond ring at $33,000.

The world in 2001

• Jan 1, 2001

  Greece becomes the 12th country to join the eurozone.

• Jan 9, 2001

  Apple launches iTunes.

• Mar 23, 2001

  The Russian space station Mir is deorbited into the South Pacific.

• Jul 13, 2001

  The International Olympic Committee chooses Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

• Sep 11, 2001

  The September 11 attacks kill nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

• 2001

  Apple introduces the iPod and Microsoft releases Windows XP and the Xbox.

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 Two Butterfly Between-the-Finger Ring is number 52 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 (58 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Between the Finger rings date back to the 1970s; the house still shows a 1972 coral version.
• The very first Two Butterfly ring, in 2001, used yellow sapphires, not diamonds alone.
• This all-diamond ring was the most expensive piece in the Two Butterfly line on the US site in October 2026.
• Turquoise did not appear in the Two Butterfly collection until 2022, more than 20 years after it began.
• The house says butterflies have inspired its jewelry since 1906, the year it opened on Place Vendome.