VCA ~ Van Cleef Arpels Discussion thread!

[Lien]

I don’t own any magic, yet. I would likely only wear it double chained so I am more likely to buy one of the special edition pieces (likely HK or japan) since I like the size better.
Otherwise I pick which style to buy based on neckline. The 10 goes with everything for me. Even a T-shirt it can peak out the side. I wear a variety of necklines and I find the 10 perfect. For my blue agate 10, I commonly wear it with white round collar T-shirt’s so I add my bracelet to it to make it a 15 so it hangs lower over top of a round neckline. If you want an inbetween length then adding a bracelet might give you options to enjoy your 10 and then otherwise you have a set to wear.
I only wear my 20 long with dresses or with a jacket and skirt/jeans. Otherwise I double it. I find some 20s too much doubled and looks messy. So the 20s are more limiting to me since I would not wear ca

Yes, I totally agree with you on the Magic pendant. I think you will love the 20 motif! I'm small (5' 2", 108lbs), and I love the long swingy chain on me. I hope you can try it on again. Good luck!

Oooh, we are almost twins in frame, @BigAkoya. I am a tiny shorter, like half an inch. But I find the long swingy chain "too much" on me, too overwhelming. Funny that. I find that I always wear my magic grey MOP pendant doubled up. I like the single-chain version of the magic pave pendant since that seems to suit me better.

@lynne_ross , I also think about necklines. For that reason, I don't have any 6-motif necklace since you can really only wear that with V-shaped tops/ dresses, but I still ADORE it, esp the pave version. I like the versatility of the 10-motif as you can add the 5-motif to suit some necklines. And the 10 can look a bit too short.

@innerpeace85 , I think what you choose depends on the necklines, what you want it for. For me, magic pendants (especially the special eds, like the Ginza or Prince's) offer the best of everything, it's very versatile. You can wear it casually or dressed up (paired with other items). But I still dream of the 10-motif pave in white gold. I'd totally wear that grocery-shopping, haha.

 

[innerpeace85]

I don’t own any magic, yet. I would likely only wear it double chained so I am more likely to buy one of the special edition pieces (likely HK or japan) since I like the size better.
Otherwise I pick which style to buy based on neckline. The 10 goes with everything for me. Even a T-shirt it can peak out the side. I wear a variety of necklines and I find the 10 perfect. For my blue agate 10, I commonly wear it with white round collar T-shirt’s so I add my bracelet to it to make it a 15 so it hangs lower over top of a round neckline. If you want an inbetween length then adding a bracelet might give you options to enjoy your 10 and then otherwise you have a set to wear.
I only wear my 20 long with dresses or with a jacket and skirt/jeans. Otherwise I double it. I find some 20s too much doubled and looks messy. So the 20s are more limiting to me since I would not wear casually long with a T-shirt.
Why don’t you wear your 10 onyx?

Oooh, we are almost twins in frame, @BigAkoya. I am a tiny shorter, like half an inch. But I find the long swingy chain "too much" on me, too overwhelming. Funny that. I find that I always wear my magic grey MOP pendant doubled up. I like the single-chain version of the magic pave pendant since that seems to suit me better.

@lynne_ross , I also think about necklines. For that reason, I don't have any 6-motif necklace since you can really only wear that with V-shaped tops/ dresses, but I still ADORE it, esp the pave version. I like the versatility of the 10-motif as you can add the 5-motif to suit some necklines. And the 10 can look a bit too short.

@innerpeace85 , I think what you choose depends on the necklines, what you want it for. For me, magic pendants (especially the special eds, like the Ginza or Prince's) offer the best of everything, it's very versatile. You can wear it casually or dressed up (paired with other items). But I still dream of the 10-motif pave in white gold. I'd totally wear that grocery-shopping, haha.

@lynne_ross @Lien I tried magic pendants in MOP and Malachite multiple times over the last few years and I never liked it on me. I feel it only looks good when I double up and it is not versatile enough. I prefer vintage pendants and 10/16 motifs and 10+5 necklaces on me.

I wear 10 motif in MOP and Blue Agate all the time. It looks so good with T-shirts/button up shirts and even Indian sarees. The thing that throws me off with onyx 10 motif is I tend to gravitate towards black in fall/winter and I find 10 motif onyx is not enough length chunky sweaters or even turtlenecks.

In regards to 20 motif,I tried it long time back and I remember it overwhelming my frame. I am going to try it again and see if my opinion has changed.

Lien, Magic pave in WG in any style is

 

[gagabag]

I also prefer 10 or 10+5 motifs. I don’t enjoy wearing my 20’s as it bangs on the desk and I worry about strangling my patients when I lean over to examine them. If I double it, it looks too busy on my neck. I only wear mine when giving presentations, which now only happens on Zoom or Teams, so not much action since last year. It’s the same with my magic necklaces. I can only wear magic double to work for my lifestyle. 10 is very versatile, I wear it with any neckline!

 

[sbelle]

I have been following the discussion about the long Magic pendant necklace and had to pop in to offer a different point of view.

Unlike the majority of recent posters before me , I adore the long Magic pendant style. To me it is fresh, youthful, and hip. I have every one that VCA has released (and a few others) and wear them in all situations - casual and dressy .

That is not to say that I don’t love the 20’s — I do and I own quite a few . But for me, they aren’t as versatile as the Magic pendant .

I love this forum because of the generous sharing of experiences and opinions. And the fact that we are not all the same keeps it interesting !

 

[Anabunny]

I like my mop magic pendent too. I love to wear it short and long double strand(with one round on the neck without going through the loop). The YG catches light across the chest area and has the layered look. I also use the chain to wear other pendants that way. I wanted to get the chalcedony magic pendant so I can have the WG chain but the presence is different, chalcedony is a light coloured translucent stone, still debating...

 

[nightbefore]

Like @sbelle , I also love the way magic looks. MOP in magic size has more iridescence than vintage size, I love the colour play on it. When doubled up it hits exactly right spot on the chest and when worn long over sweaters it is definitely an eye catcher. I also love the chain on bare skin, it literally glitters. When sun hits on it in summer the combination of iridescent MOP and sparkles from the chain is very flattering on bare skin. I am not fan of short magic necklace, to me chain/charm ratio looks odd, I also don’t like the fact that it hangs like vintage on the chain. However I don’t own any other than MOP but it has to do with the fact that I am just beginning with VCA. So first I try to own more different styles/options. When it comes to 10 and 20, I would choose 20. I find 10 very hard to match with necklines. I like 16 motif sweet doubled up way more than 10. This is just my way of thinking for sure

 

[doloresmia]

I have been following the discussion about the long Magic pendant necklace and had to pop in to offer a different point of view.

Unlike the majority of recent posters before me , I adore the long Magic pendant style. To me it is fresh, youthful, and hip. I have every one that VCA has released (and a few others) and wear them in all situations - casual and dressy .

That is not to say that I don’t love the 20’s — I do and I own quite a few . But for me, they aren’t as versatile as the Magic pendant .

I love this forum because of the generous sharing of experiences and opinions. And the fact that we are not all the same keeps it interesting !

Me too! I have a malachite and it pops against my mostly black wardrobe. Only complaint is pendant doesn’t show in my zoom life unless I double

 

[evietiger]

100% agreed with this. @sbelle You described it perfectly! - it is fresh, youthful, and hip. I own both and find the long Magic a lot easier to wear for me and will definitely add more!

 

[rosebean]

I have been following the discussion about the long Magic pendant necklace and had to pop in to offer a different point of view.

Unlike the majority of recent posters before me , I adore the long Magic pendant style. To me it is fresh, youthful, and hip. I have every one that VCA has released (and a few others) and wear them in all situations - casual and dressy .

That is not to say that I don’t love the 20’s — I do and I own quite a few . But for me, they aren’t as versatile as the Magic pendant .

I love this forum because of the generous sharing of experiences and opinions. And the fact that we are not all the same keeps it interesting !

Hi Sbelle, what's your favorite Magic pendant? I only have Onyx Magic pendent and vintage MOP, thinking about adding another one, or 10 or 20 motif. I love how GMOP looks, but thought GMOP and Onyx color are too close to each other. Any suggestions? thank you!

 

[sarznotthevirus]

Hi All!
I’m looking for some advice, I want to buy the Alhambra guilloché bracelet. And I just found someone selling theirs from 2018 (real only needs a polish) for 1000$ less. I know 1000$ doesn’t seem much but I can always put that towards getting the earrings for example. Would you buy it preloved (real) or buy a new one from the boutique?

 

[880]

Hi All!
I’m looking for some advice, I want to buy the Alhambra guilloché bracelet. And I just found someone selling theirs from 2018 (real only needs a polish) for 1000$ less. I know 1000$ doesn’t seem much but I can always put that towards getting the earrings for example. Would you buy it preloved (real) or buy a new one from the boutique?

I am a fan of authenticated preloved hermes bags from recommended resellers, but with VCA, there are so many replicas out there, I would personally feel safer and happier with boutique. Also, I do trust my SA to weigh in with an opinion as to what works on me. JMO though!

i agree with @sbelle that it’s fun we have so many different opinions. I also felt the magic size was fun, young and hip, but I dislike pendants on me, so picked the six motif necklace as my every day piece. Although I’m also short, I’m medium build, and the vintage size motifs looked dinky on me. But I like large and bold jewelry. If I want less of a look, I could wear a crew neck over the bottom motifs, but I usually prefer it over bare skin (easy with a button down shirt or tank or dress opening. I’m not a matchy matchy person, so I often wear it with verdura belperron corne earrings

 

[DS2006]

Hi All!
I’m looking for some advice, I want to buy the Alhambra guilloché bracelet. And I just found someone selling theirs from 2018 (real only needs a polish) for 1000$ less. I know 1000$ doesn’t seem much but I can always put that towards getting the earrings for example. Would you buy it preloved (real) or buy a new one from the boutique?

I wouldn't buy a scratched guilloche bracelet second hand, aside from the issue of fakes. They may not be able to polish it to new condition. I'd absolutely buy from the boutique in most circumstances. The used ones rarely are much lower in price.

 

[colexalt]

Hi everyone, my 33rd birthday is coming up and i was hoping someone here can help me decide between vca guilloche yg 5 motif bracelet or cartier yg juc! I already own a cartier love bracelet and would love to add something to stack this with.
Ive tried on the juc last year when i was purchasing my love bracelet and told myself ill get it eventually. But lately ive discovered vca and fell in love with the guilloche. I only have budget to add one more bracelet at the moment and would appreciate some advice. Thank you!

 

[DS2006]

Add me to the list of those who love Magic pendants! I only have one, but I would like to add more. I really want MOP, but I prefer the white gold, yet I want the long chain! I cannot understand why VCA doesn't offer more options of metals without special ordering! I like the size of the Magic pendant when the chain is doubled, and I also love to wear long pendants, as well. They can be worn casually, which is a big plus! I'd love to have a 20 motif, too.

 

[DS2006]

Hi everyone, my 33rd birthday is coming up and i was hoping someone here can help me decide between vca guilloche yg 5 motif bracelet or cartier yg juc! I already own a cartier love bracelet and would love to add something to stack this with.
Ive tried on the juc last year when i was purchasing my love bracelet and told myself ill get it eventually. But lately ive discovered vca and fell in love with the guilloche. I only have budget to add one more bracelet at the moment and would appreciate some advice. Thank you!

Happy birthday! The guilloche will get scratched up if you wear it with another bracelet. I personally wouldn't but many do and don't mind the scratches. The Love and JUC are complimentary styles and are very commonly worn together. I am a strong VCA fan, but if you have a Love, I'd choose the JUC to go with it. For myself, I'd get the guilloche to wear alone.