A pair of earrings nearly identical to those gifted to Princess Grace for her wedding to Prince Rainier in 1956 are heading to auction.
Hollywood star Grace Kelly met her future husband, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, when she was filming the Alfred Hitchcock film “To Catch a Thief” in 1954. By the next year, the couple was in engaged, and in 1956, they married at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco.
Prince Rainier commissioned Van Cleef & Arpels to create a wedding set for the princess as a gift, directing the jeweler to design a pair of pearl earrings “to match Grace’s delicate beauty.”
The outcome was a pair of platinum earrings featuring a central pearl within a scrolling surround that is set with baguette- and marquise-cut diamonds.
The Princess wore the earrings on the day of her wedding and in a famous photograph of her at the time.
A pair of Van Cleef & Arpels earrings heading to auction next week—our Piece of the Week—are almost identical to Princess Grace’s pearl and diamond earrings by the jeweler, a piece gifted to her by her husband-to-be Prince Rainier for their wedding. (Image copyright: Alamy)
After the wedding, Van Cleef & Arpels was named the Patented Supplier of the Principality of Monaco.
Today, the earrings remain in The Princess Grace of Monaco collection at the Palais Rainier in Monaco.
However, one person still has the chance to own Van Cleef & Arpels earrings of the same design.
The pearl, diamond, and platinum earrings heading to auction next week, seen at the top of the article, are identical in design to the pair owned by the Princess.
They are signed by the same brand, created around the same time period (circa 1950), and only feature one difference—this pair uses natural saltwater pearls rather than cultured.
Despite not being the exact piece that Princess Grace wore on her wedding day, the auction house states the material value of the replica earrings is higher because of the natural saltwater pearls.
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As lot 493 in Woolley & Wallis’ spring fine jewelry sale, the Van Cleef & Arpels earrings are estimated to sell for £60,000 to £70,000 ($77,000 to $89,800).
“We are delighted to offer this exceptional pair of Van Cleef & Arpels earrings,” said Marielle Whiting, the jewelry specialist at Woolley & Wallis.
“Not only does their design relate them to one of the most famous romances of the last century, but they also feature natural saltwater pearls, which have a very strong market at the moment.”
The pearl and diamond earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels will be offered as part of the fine jewelry sale on April 15-16.
The piece comes with an SSEF report confirming that it uses two natural saltwater pearls and that it is signed by Van Cleef & Arpels.
