Van Cleef & Arpels

Cf.: Alba Cappellieri, Van Cleef & Arpels - Il Tempo, la Natura, l’Amore, Milan, 2019, pg. 180, for a design of a tie necklace dated circa 1925.

Cf.: Evelyne Possemé (ed.), Van Cleef & Arpels - The Art of High Jewellery, Paris, 2012, pg. 43, for a design of a ruby and diamond tie necklace dated circa 1935.

Cf.: La Collection Van Cleef & Arpels 1906-1953, Paris, 2024, pg. 200-202, for several designs of tie necklaces dated circa 1929.

From the mid-1920s to the early 1930s, Van Cleef & Arpels conceived several designs for “tie-necklaces.” These elaborate jewels terminated in a long pendant or tassel that could be worn at the front of a dress, like a cravat, or draped asymmetrically over one shoulder. The style lent itself perfectly to dresses cut low in the back, showcasing the largest stones on the front of one's neck, a sumptuous jewel for a sartorial choice that would have been scandalous in the not-so-distant past. Glamorous, sleek and slinky gowns of satin cut on the bias featured prominently in the evening fashions of the early 1930s, as exemplified by the designer Madeleine Vionnet. The finely articulated, fabric-like quality of the tie-necklace complements this aesthetic to perfection and encapsulates all the style, beauty and allure of the era.

This period saw a flowering of novel designs, with Van Cleef & Arpels being at the very forefront of innovation. It was during these years that the revered maison developed its signature mystery setting and jeweled vanity case, the minaudière. The tie-necklace is a prime example of Van Cleef & Arpels creative forces. During the 1920s, Parisian jewelers had created a variety of long, articulated, richly adorned shoulder brooches; the tie-necklace may be viewed, in part, as an evolution of this form. Furthermore, tie-necklaces provided ample frameworks in which to showcase the highly geometricized links and variously shaped diamonds that characterize the art deco style. Van Cleef & Arpels’ archives contain several enchanting designs for the tie-necklace as revealed by the forthcoming publication La Collection Van Cleef & Arpels: 1906-1953.

As was so often the case, other jewelers followed Van Cleef & Arpels’ lead and the tie-necklace was no exception. By the mid-1930s, the taste for long necklaces had given way to shorter bib styles and collars and the tie-necklaces seem to have been discontinued by 1935. The lavish nature of tie-necklaces was such that only a handful of examples were ever produced. As virtuosic showpieces displaying the jeweler’s art at its best, they were captured on the pages of Vogue and worn by movie stars such as Mary Pickford. 

It is exceedingly rare to find a Van Cleef & Arpels tie-necklace and the example offered here is the first of its kind to come to auction in the recent times.