Princess Grace’s Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite

The 12th of November will mark the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Grace of Monaco, the glamorous American Actress who became the Princess Consort of the small Mediterranean Principality, so we are featuring her Top 9 jewels, continuing with her Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite.

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In 1956, Prince Rainier III of Monaco bought a pearl and diamond suite, consisting of a necklace, a pair of earrings, a bracelet, and a ring, which he presented to his bride, American Actress Grace Kelly, upon their wedding that year. The suite had been created by Van Cleef & Arpels between 1953 and 1956, and featured distinctive diamond elements in the style of the 1950s.

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Princess Grace wore her new Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite as soon as her honeymoon in Spain, and it was also prominently worn for one of her earliest series of official portraits, and the presentations and christenings of her children.

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Princess Grace continued to wear her Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite regularly throughout the rest of her life, for daytime and casual events as well as more formal evening and gala events. One of the last notable appearences of the suite was in a series of portraits taken to mark Prince Rainier and Princess Grace’s Silver (25th) Anniversary, just a year before her untimely death.

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Princess Grace’s Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite passed into the ‘Palais Princier Collection’, and has been displayed with some of her other jewels, though it has also been worn by her elder daughter, Princess Caroline, first at the 1989 National Day Gala and most recently at the 2019 Rose Ball.

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One thought on “Princess Grace’s Van Cleef & Arpels Pearl Suite

  1. Absolutely adore this pearl set, but I am a pearl girl from way back, stunning pieces. Wore beautifully by the Princess.

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