FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 50
VCA Vintage Alhambra Necklace, 10 Motifs (mother-of-pearl)
Ten clovers of Australian shell on a gold chain: the short Alhambra necklace takes a 1968 good-luck charm and makes it everyday wear, and its boutique price has climbed from $8,900 to $10,200 in two years.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- By price in jewelry
- 68 of 100
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Create a free account- Maker
- Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris
- Reference
- VCARA42800 (Vintage Alhambra necklace, 10 motifs, 18k yellow gold, white mother-of-pearl)
- Design
- Ten clover-shaped motifs of white mother-of-pearl, each framed by a double row of gold beads, on a faceted gold chain
- Mother-of-pearl
- White mother-of-pearl, which the maker says it sources primarily from Australia
- Length
- 42.5 cm (about 16.7 in) for one example sold at auction
- Original design
- 1968, the first Alhambra long necklace, 20 motifs in textured yellow gold
- US retail price
- $10,200 at the maker's US boutique, October 2026
- Public auction result
- $8,750 at an online auction in New York, October 27, 2020
- Markings
- 750 for 18k gold and a serial number; French marks on many examples
A habit of handing out luck
Van Cleef & Arpels says four-leaf clover motifs show up in its archives as early as 1906. Its archive holds product cards for a clover brooch in 1933 and 1936 and a clover clip in 1948, and around 1916 the house made "Touch Wood" jewelry combining wood with precious materials as a nod to good-luck charms.
The person most associated with the idea was Jacques Arpels, a nephew of the founding couple. The company says he picked four-leaf clovers in his backyard and gave them to employees, sometimes with a copy of the English poem "Don't Quit." His line, "To be lucky, you have to believe in luck," is still part of how the house tells the story.
In 1968 the house made the first Alhambra necklace: a long chain of 20 clover-shaped motifs in textured yellow gold, trimmed with gold beads. The company says it was an immediate success. The 10-motif necklace is the shorter version of that original sautoir, and the maker describes every Vintage Alhambra piece as faithful to the 1968 motif.
Where the name came from is less certain. Auction specialists have written that the design was inspired by the arches of the Alhambra palace in Granada, and one auction firm's guide says Jacques Arpels visited the palace in the late 1960s. The company's own history pages, which we read, do not mention the palace.
From Place Vendôme to the everyday
The house traces itself to the 1895 Paris wedding of Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef. In 1906 Alfred and his brother-in-law Charles Arpels opened the first boutique at 22 Place Vendôme, where the company remains. Sources disagree on the founding year: the company's timeline uses 1906, while Wikipedia gives 1896.
The Alhambra belonged to a move toward jewelry for daily wear. Auction specialists note that the house opened La Boutique in Paris in 1954 to sell more accessible pieces, and the Alhambra followed in 1968, the year Paris students and workers filled the streets during May 68. One auction firm's guide calls the necklace a fitting bohemian design for a France whose young people were rejecting their parents' conservatism.
Famous wearers came quickly. The company's archive shows Romy Schneider wearing an Alhambra long necklace while filming Le Mouton Enragé in 1973, Françoise Hardy in two Alhambra sautoirs the same year, and Princess Grace of Monaco in three at once in 1979. Richemont bought the house in 1999.
Shell from Australia
Mother-of-pearl is the iridescent lining that forms naturally inside certain shells. The maker says it looks primarily to Australia for white mother-of-pearl, prized for its even surface and soft iridescence, and chooses it for evenness of surface and consistency of shimmer. Australia also supplies its gold mother-of-pearl, while its gray mother-of-pearl comes from French Polynesia.
Shell is a delicate material, and the maker's care advice reflects that. It recommends storing mother-of-pearl pieces in their own cotton-lined case, since contact with other stones can scratch them, and keeping them away from perfume, lotion and hand sanitizer, which can dull the polished surface. It also advises against water: mother-of-pearl can shrink as water evaporates from its surface, so a wet piece should be wiped dry quickly with a soft cloth.
Wear shows up in the auction record. Catalogers routinely note surface abrasions and scratches on mother-of-pearl plaques from older Alhambra necklaces, and one 20-motif example sold in 2024 was described with surface wear on the shell and discoloration to the gold.
How to read one
Each clover sits in a gold mount bordered by a double row of gold beads, which the house calls a signature of the collection and polishes until even. On the back, the claws that hold the shell are rounded into small balls so they do not catch on skin or clothing. The clasp carries the house monogram, and the chain is faceted to catch the light.
A 10-motif mother-of-pearl necklace sold at auction in 2020 was cataloged as 42.5 cm long and 22.3 grams, with the 750 mark for 18k gold and a serial number. Other mother-of-pearl Alhambra pieces at auction have been described as signed VCA and numbered, with French gold marks.
Paperwork and marks matter for this model more than most. One auction firm's guide says modern Alhambra pieces compete with many near-identical examples, so boxes and certificates help, and that the signature, serial number and French marks are what give a piece its value. The line is also heavily copied: in November 2025 a French trade publication reported that the company was bringing several counterfeiting lawsuits over the Alhambra, which it said tops the charts for counterfeit seizures, with US seizures at record levels.
What it costs, new and used
This is a model still in production, so its clearest price is the boutique price. The yellow gold and mother-of-pearl 10-motif necklace cost $8,900 in the US in 2024. When the house raised prices worldwide on April 25, 2025, it went to $9,150, a 2.8 percent increase. By October 2026 the maker's US site listed it at $10,200.
That price increase did not fall evenly. Malachite pieces saw the largest increases, followed by mother-of-pearl, though the 10-motif mother-of-pearl necklace itself rose less than the mother-of-pearl ring, pendant and five-motif bracelet, each of which went up more than 8 percent. For comparison, the all-diamond 10-motif necklace in white gold went from $63,000 to $65,000.
On the secondary market, a 10-motif mother-of-pearl and gold necklace sold for $8,750 at an online auction in New York on October 27, 2020. The longer 20-motif mother-of-pearl necklaces bring more: $15,000 in December 2019, $22,680 in September 2024 despite visible wear, and $19,050 in June 2026, all at online auctions in New York.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- None; this version has no diamonds
- Material
- White mother-of-pearl, 10 motifs, chosen for even surface and consistent iridescence
- Origin
- Primarily Australia, per the maker's statement on its white mother-of-pearl
- Cutter
- Not disclosed; the maker describes motif making, setting and polishing in its own workshops
- Metal
- 18k yellow gold (750)
- Length and weight
- 42.5 cm and 22.3 g for one example sold at auction in 2020
Timeline
Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef marry in Paris.
The first Van Cleef & Arpels boutique opens at 22 Place Vendôme; clover motifs appear in the archives from this year.
The house makes Touch Wood jewelry as a nod to good-luck charms.
A clover brooch is recorded on a product card in the archives.
La Boutique opens in Paris for more accessible daily-wear jewelry.
The first Alhambra long necklace is created, 20 clover motifs in textured yellow gold.
Romy Schneider and Françoise Hardy are photographed wearing Alhambra necklaces.
Princess Grace of Monaco is photographed wearing three Alhambra sautoirs.
Alhambra watches join the collection.
Richemont acquires Van Cleef & Arpels.
A 20-motif mother-of-pearl Alhambra necklace sells online in New York for $15,000.
A 10-motif mother-of-pearl and gold necklace sells online in New York for $8,750.
US boutique price of the 10-motif mother-of-pearl necklace stands at $8,900.
A worn 20-motif mother-of-pearl necklace sells online in New York for $22,680.
Worldwide price increase takes the 10-motif mother-of-pearl necklace to $9,150 in the US.
A French trade publication reports a wave of counterfeiting lawsuits over the Alhambra line.
A 20-motif mother-of-pearl necklace sells online in New York for $19,050.
The maker's US site lists VCARA42800 at $10,200.
The world in 1968
The Tet Offensive begins in South Vietnam.
Students occupy offices at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris, the start of May 68.
Student protesters begin battling police in the streets of Paris.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
The Summer Olympics open in Mexico City.
Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2020 | $8,750 | Sold at auctionOnline auction in New York; ten mother-of-pearl and textured gold motifs, 42.5 cm, 22.3 g. |
| 2024 | $8,900 | Asking price, not a saleUS boutique retail price before the April 2025 increase. |
| Apr 25, 2025 | $9,150 | Asking price, not a saleUS boutique retail price after the April 2025 increase. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $10,200 | Asking price, not a saleMaker's US boutique retail price, ref. VCARA42800. |
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 Vintage Alhambra Necklace, 10 Motifs (mother-of-pearl) is number 68 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 (50 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The maker says mother-of-pearl can shrink as water evaporates from its surface, so it advises wiping a wet piece dry right away.
- Van Cleef & Arpels gets its gray mother-of-pearl from French Polynesia, but its white and gold mother-of-pearl primarily from Australia.
- Jacques Arpels gave his staff four-leaf clovers he picked himself.
- Princess Grace of Monaco was photographed in 1979 wearing three Alhambra sautoirs at once.
- In the 2025 price increase, the 10-motif mother-of-pearl necklace rose 2.8 percent in the US, less than many smaller mother-of-pearl pieces.
- The claws behind each clover are rounded into tiny balls so they do not snag on clothing.
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