VCA ~ Van Cleef Arpels Discussion thread!

[samouu]

IMO only, and I am not a VCA expert, ( I only have a six motif magic necklace gmop) it looks fabulous on the very slim model in the plain white dress. But, it is a lot of space and chain, and I think on normal people and normal clothes, the relatively small motifs will get lost. But, I would be happy to be proved wrong by those of us who have tried this on or who might own this piece.

Thank you for your feedback. Well i think it can look very casual and fun on normal clothes because of the different colors. For more drama I would wear it double layered (on bare skin) with the 4 motifs earrings. I think it can look beautiful but I would love to see some mod shots of this piece.
Looks like not a lot of people own this particular one.

 

[samouu]

Ok, so!! Small story time here, and I hope it helps!

Years ago, @8seventeen19 and I were at a private party together in Nashville (I forget the name of the country singers' whose house we were at - maybe she can chime in! ) with Christian Louboutin to celebrate his signing at the local Nordstrom the following day. The jewelry was EYE CANDY that night! But what stands out to me was the most incredibly chic woman who had this necklace on. She told us that her husband had bought it for her for a recent milestone wedding anniversary, and my God - to say this necklace made her outfit is a gross understatement. This was way before I started collecting VCA in any serious way and I thought that if I could just own this necklace... that would be the top for me.

Anyhow. This necklace is a huge statement piece in person and honestly you cannot go wrong with it. I hope this helps and apologies for being long-winded, but it truly does make an impact when you see it on another person. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Oh wow what an intriguing story. This makes me want to get it even more! Do you remember by any chance how she wore it? Was it long or layered double? With a plain dress? (Sorry for so many questions but I do not own any long VCA necklaces so it is a big shot for me this time)
I was thinking of wearing it long casually with a plain top and jeans with VA MOP earrings or night time long or doubled with magic malachite earrings or 4 motifs MOP earrings.

 

[jenayb]

What a delightful story, thank you for sharing your memory. I want more stories featuring glitz and VCA in this forum! It is so easy to become a little bored and jaded, and it makes me so happy to remember when certain luxury items really dazzled me. Let's keep the fun and magic alive

Thanks, gorgeous!

I agree - storytime in this forum would be lovely; I would adore reading a thread like that! I agree that boredom and becoming jaded almost seems inherent sometimes.. remembering how exciting it was to see pieces and wish for them.. that was a lot of the magic for sure!

TY for the lovely story! Just shows that sometimes it doesn't need to be all about big and all bling to leave a good and lasting impression!

Totally agree babe! Could not have said it better myself.

 

[jenayb]

Oh wow what an intriguing story. This makes me want to get it even more! Do you remember by any chance how she wore it? Was it long or layered double? With a plain dress? (Sorry for so many questions but I do not own any long VCA necklaces so it is a big shot for me this time)
I was thinking of wearing it long casually with a plain top and jeans with VA MOP earrings or night time long or doubled with magic malachite earrings or 4 motifs MOP earrings.

I do! I can vividly remember her. She had a crisp white button down tucked into a beautiful, structured maxi skirt and wore the necklace full length. I think long or doubled.. you can't go wrong. I envision it many ways, but I love the idea of a spaghetti tank of some type and then the necklace doubled, and yes - definitely with MOP earrings or even malachite... I think what is cool about the neklace is the variation of stones; you could legit "match" with so many different items! Malachite, TE, carnelian, MOP...

 

[jenayb]

@jenayb Did your coral come in yet? Thinking of you because I promised to post a photo of my earrings when they came back from the workshop from having the posts added. In a very unsurprising development (if you know me), I remembered in the interim that the earrings I purchased were actually pink Opal (I was thinking they were light pink coral for a minute for some reason), but I love them and wanted to post the promised photo now that they are back, as promised.

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Pink opal!! Wow, even better! These are stunning on you - but then again, what isn't?? You wear everything so well.

You have to absolutely LOVE those though - they are so gorgeous against your dark hair.

I did pick up the Coral thanks to yours and other lovelies' opinions here - thank goodness for this group! I just have been a tad busy and not posting nor reading as much as I'd like to... but here are a couple pics I snapped just now!

 

[lynne_ross]

@jenayb Did your coral come in yet? Thinking of you because I promised to post a photo of my earrings when they came back from the workshop from having the posts added. In a very unsurprising development (if you know me), I remembered in the interim that the earrings I purchased were actually pink Opal (I was thinking they were light pink coral for a minute for some reason), but I love them and wanted to post the promised photo now that they are back, as promised.

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These are so pretty! Lucky you! They pair nicely with the holiday pendant too.

 

[lynne_ross]

Pink opal!! Wow, even better! These are stunning on you - but then again, what isn't?? You wear everything so well.

You have to absolutely LOVE those though - they are so gorgeous against your dark hair.

I did pick up the Coral thanks to yours and other lovelies' opinions here - thank goodness for this group! I just have been a tad busy and not posting nor reading as much as I'd like to... but here are a couple pics I snapped just now!

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Gorgeous coral! So perfect for summer weather and fun prints!

 

[Nata321]

Hi! My apologies, I missed this question and just saw it.
I can stack 7 empty large pouches, but I would probably just stack 6 and top it off with a cleaning cloth so there is some room.
It would also depend on what you put inside the the large travel pouch such as a thicker Clover bangle vs. a flat 20 motif.

If you have rings, I use the small pouch for rings, and I layer them in opposite corners as in the photo.

For the 5 motif bracelets, I use one large pouch for two bracelets, one on each side of the pouch divider. I let them spread out and lay flat so they take up less space (I use one large pouch for a 20 motif and a separate one for the Clover bangle).

If you have a lot of items to stack, the Maria cube is more forgiving than the Maria rectangle as the cube is 4.5" tall while the rectangle is only 2.75" tall. The rectangle is great for long chunky necklaces. The rectangle is also a hard case, and it's much heavier than the cube. The cube is my favorite.

Hope that helps.

Thank you! This is super helpful as I was debating whether to get the wider (rectangle) one or the cube one. Good to know that the cube can pack a lot, plus it looks like, out of the two, more likely to fit inside most hotel safes. And thank you for the recommendation about the valet tray, great idea for easily finding things while traveling!

 

[BigAkoya]

@jenayb Did your coral come in yet? Thinking of you because I promised to post a photo of my earrings when they came back from the workshop from having the posts added. In a very unsurprising development (if you know me), I remembered in the interim that the earrings I purchased were actually pink Opal (I was thinking they were light pink coral for a minute for some reason), but I love them and wanted to post the promised photo now that they are back, as promised.

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I have never seen pink opal earrings... they are gorgeous on you!

 

[BigAkoya]

Pink opal!! Wow, even better! These are stunning on you - but then again, what isn't?? You wear everything so well.

You have to absolutely LOVE those though - they are so gorgeous against your dark hair.

I did pick up the Coral thanks to yours and other lovelies' opinions here - thank goodness for this group! I just have been a tad busy and not posting nor reading as much as I'd like to... but here are a couple pics I snapped just now!

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So glad you got it... it's stunning, what a gorgeous pop on color, and it looks great on you!
Congratulations!

 

[jenayb]

Gorgeous coral! So perfect for summer weather and fun prints!

Totally!!

So glad you got it... it's stunning, what a gorgeous pop on color, and it looks great on you!
Congratulations!

Thank you again for your advice as always!! You definitely helped make the decision to pull the trigger easy - so grateful!

 

[BigAkoya]

Thank you! This is super helpful as I was debating whether to get the wider (rectangle) one or the cube one. Good to know that the cube can pack a lot, plus it looks like, out of the two, more likely to fit inside most hotel safes. And thank you for the recommendation about the valet tray, great idea for easily finding things while traveling!

For what it's worth, in places where there is no room safe...
I put my Maria jewelry box that has the pieces I am not wearing inside my luggage. I then zip up the luggage and put the lock on.
Luggage looks normal, like no big deal. Your luggage then becomes the "safe".

Housekeeping is not going to walk away with a big suitcase, and I doubt they would dare to proactively be so aggressive as to clip the lock.

I travel a lot and have done this for years. Works like a charm.

Related to jewelry loss...
For me, I am not so much concerned about jewelry theft (low odds in reailty).
I am more concerned about damaging my jewelry when wearing it (much higher odds).
This includes banging a ring hard against a concrete wall or dropping a watch on the marble floor of the hotel room bathroom... true examples. I have also accidentally thrown away diamond earrings wrapped in tissue (this was my pre-Maria cube era).

For this reason, I am a big time believer in insuring my higher end pieces of jewelry.
Insurance gives me 100% piece of mind, and I wear all my pieces anywhere, anytime I want. Insurance premiums do add up, but it's worth it to me. I never worry when I wear my pieces.

Just a thought I want to share. There is much higher odds of damaging your jewelry than theft.

 

[nicole0612]

Pink opal!! Wow, even better! These are stunning on you - but then again, what isn't?? You wear everything so well.

You have to absolutely LOVE those though - they are so gorgeous against your dark hair.

I did pick up the Coral thanks to yours and other lovelies' opinions here - thank goodness for this group! I just have been a tad busy and not posting nor reading as much as I'd like to... but here are a couple pics I snapped just now!

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Wow!!! Your bracelet is so gorgeous! This pop of color is a delight to the eyes. I'm so happy that you picked up this treasure

 

[nicole0612]

These are so pretty! Lucky you! They pair nicely with the holiday pendant too.

Thank you! It looks like I am getting slowly converted over to the pink side!

 

[glamourbag]

@jenayb Did your coral come in yet? Thinking of you because I promised to post a photo of my earrings when they came back from the workshop from having the posts added. In a very unsurprising development (if you know me), I remembered in the interim that the earrings I purchased were actually pink Opal (I was thinking they were light pink coral for a minute for some reason), but I love them and wanted to post the promised photo now that they are back, as promised.

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TPF needs to add a head explosion emoji because I'd be using it right here! Stop! Oh can they please bring opal back!?! I dont think these would ever come off my ears. Nicole they are perfect: the nicest shade of pink.