VCA ~ Van Cleef Arpels Discussion thread!

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

I finally got around to organizing my most worn pieces and most recent purchases, and it’s so nice to see them all in one place :amuse::love:
I noticed I wouldn’t wear pieces as frequently if they weren’t displayed in a manner that made them easy to grab.
I have some additional pieces not here that aren’t worn as frequently for me.
The two butterfly rings have been my favorite lately… they’re so beautiful, whimsical and comfy! I nearly walked into the shower still wearing the lapis one until I realized :facepalm:
Does anyone have the turquoise and lapis two butterfly ring? Are they redundant? Turquoise has recently been making my heart sing… hopefully I will be offered the new alternating bracelet…although my wallet won’t like it! :P

View attachment 5861218
Wow! I am having such a good time poring over your pieces. Thanks for posting!
 
Hi, I'm new here :smile: I purchased a sweet carnelian pendant today and I wanted to ask if these air gaps are normal? Thank you

View attachment 5869568

View attachment 5869569
Hi! Welcome to TPF!

First, I want to say your photo is not fair as that Sweet motif is super super super size to purposely show every dent and space.
If you look at anything that closely, especially fine jewelry, you will fine flaws.

That said,
All motifs are unqiue, finished and set by hand, and some will have gaps. A few of mine have gaps, and I am sure if I super super super sized my motifs, I would find more gaps, scratches, dents, etc... the works. I can see a few gaps in my motifs without even needing to supersize. The gaps do not bother me as I know it's the nature of cutting a stone.

I will say this about your Sweet carnelian...
Assuming the color in your photo is true to life, your carnelian is the most beautiful shade of red I have ever seen.
Some carnelians have too much brown and are very dark (e.g. no life to the stone). Others have too much orange (e.g. looks washed out).

Your carnelian is the perfect balance of red with a tiny drop of orange (orange to make it bright).

For that alone, I would keep the pendant. The color is stunning.
It's up to you if you can live with those tiny gaps. Yes, you will find them in other motifs, and some ladies do keep swapping out pendants. For carnelian, the tradeoff is color. You may not find this beautiful color in another stone.

If it looks beautiful when you wear it, that's what matters.
For me, I would rather have beautiful color vs. worrying about tiny gaps that aren't even noticeable when worn. Everyone will be staring at the gorgeous pop of red!

Just my two cents. Hope this helps, and congratulations on your new pendant.
 
Last edited:
I finally got around to organizing my most worn pieces and most recent purchases, and it’s so nice to see them all in one place :amuse::love:
I noticed I wouldn’t wear pieces as frequently if they weren’t displayed in a manner that made them easy to grab.
I have some additional pieces not here that aren’t worn as frequently for me.
The two butterfly rings have been my favorite lately… they’re so beautiful, whimsical and comfy! I nearly walked into the shower still wearing the lapis one until I realized :facepalm:
Does anyone have the turquoise and lapis two butterfly ring? Are they redundant? Turquoise has recently been making my heart sing… hopefully I will be offered the new alternating bracelet…although my wallet won’t like it! :P

View attachment 5861218
Wow!!! :heart: - what a gorgeous collection.
 
Hi! Welcome to TPF!

First, I want to say your photo is not fair as that Sweet motif is super super super size to purposely show every dent and space.
If you look at anything that closely, especially fine jewelry, you will fine flaws.

That said,
All motifs are unqiue, finished and set by hand, and some will have gaps. A few of mine have gaps, and I am sure if I super super super sized my motifs, I would find more gaps, scratches, dents, etc... the works. I can see a few gaps in my motifs without even needing to supersize. The gaps do not bother me as I know it's the nature of cutting a stone.

I will say this about your Sweet carnelian...
Assuming the color in your photo is true to life, your carnelian is the most beautiful shade of red I have ever seen.
Some carnelians have too much brown and are very dark (e.g. no life to the stone). Others have too much orange (e.g. looks washed out).

Your carnelian is the perfect balance of red with a tiny drop of orange (orange to make it bright).

For that alone, I would keep the pendant. The color is stunning.
It's up to you if you can live with those tiny gaps. Yes, you will find them in other motifs, and some ladies do keep swapping out pendants. For carnelian, the tradeoff is color. You may not find this beautiful color in another stone.

If it looks beautiful when you wear it, that's what matters.
For me, I would rather have beautiful color vs. worrying about tiny gaps that aren't even noticeable when worn. Everyone will be staring at the gorgeous pop of red!

Just my two cents. Hope this helps, and congratulations on your new pendant.
Thank you so much! This is really helpful. It is a beautiful shade of red so the gaps don’t bother me. You are right, no one will be looking that closely at my pendant haha
 
please correct me if im wrong, but do we have a thread for the underrated lotus collection? i have the mini lotus pendant on my wishlist, and was hoping someone in this forum has this item? would love a model picture if possibe.
 
Hi, I'm new here :smile: I purchased a sweet carnelian pendant today and I wanted to ask if these air gaps are normal? Thank you

View attachment 5869568

View attachment 5869569
Yes it’s normal. All motifs on my two bracelets have air gaps like that. I’ve seen pictures of some motifs having even bigger gaps while others look like they have no gaps. But I don’t think yours is bad at all, especially if you cannot see it while wearing it.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Belle2273
The positive is that as the boutique will be brand new everyone will start as new clients. If you have items you are planning to buy soon I would wait for the new boutique to open and start shopping there.
I actually like this as my family home is near Bloor shopping area but I shopped at Yorkdale as I prefer boutiques.
My SA has moved to the new store from YD, from what I understand, those of us who follow will retain our history since the systems are linked.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lynne_ross
Hi. I wanted to get some opinions on how my earrings fit and what adjustments you think I need.
Here are some photos of my piercing and how the earrings sit on my ears.
I would typically have to hold my earlobes from behind so when I snap the earrings I don’t get my skin stuck. Do you think I need to just adjust the tension or exchange with a thinner but longer post and should I have it moved to the top hole so the earrings sit lower? @BigAkoya I’ve seen your suggestions for others and hoping you can suggest as well what you think.
Thanks to everyone who would respond. Appreciate it.

IMG_9244.jpeg

IMG_9259.jpeg

IMG_9260.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: karlo88 and hhw
Hi. I wanted to get some opinions on how my earrings fit and what adjustments you think I need.
Here are some photos of my piercing and how the earrings sit on my ears.
I would typically have to hold my earlobes from behind so when I snap the earrings I don’t get my skin stuck. Do you think I need to just adjust the tension or exchange with a thinner but longer post and should I have it moved to the top hole so the earrings sit lower? @BigAkoya I’ve seen your suggestions for others and hoping you can suggest as well what you think.
Thanks to everyone who would respond. Appreciate it.

View attachment 5872339

View attachment 5872340

View attachment 5872341
Hi! Thanks for tagging me. I have the worst ear piercing, so I always need to make adjustments to my earrings.
I would be happy to share my thoughts, and of course, this is my opinion only as everyone has their own preferences.

Summary:
Yes, I do think you need to adjust both the tension and height as you mentioned. I will elaborate a bit more on each adjustment to provide more insight.

- Height: I agree with you. The earrings sit too high. This is because your ear piercing is high, hence you need to lower your earrings by using the top hole. You can see also in your third photo that you had to clip them on angled in order for them to fit your ear lobe. This make the Alhambra motif look like an "X" and not like a "+" sign. If you remove the earrings and hold them vertical, they are meant to be a "+" sign look. Like this photo below... see how her earrings are a "+" and not an "X"? In your second photo, yours are currently an "X". I would have VCA use the top hole to lower the earrings to allow more space for your earlobe.
1696719617334.png

- Tension: Yes, I also agree you need to loosen the tension. Looking your third photo, for me, they would be a bit too tight. Even if they feel okay, the visual to me is a bit off. Why? Because it looks like the earrings now are "pressing" into your skin. You can tell by the edge of the earrings the skin there looks a bit "puffed up" (e.g. squished). For me, I like earrings to sit on top of skin, not pressed into the skin. I think when earrings are worn tight where it presses into skin, it makes the earlobes look fat and swollen. Kind of like when people wear rings that are too tight, you get that dreaded sausage finger look.

An earring example is when you sometimes see people wear tiny studs. They tighten the post so much, the stud is slightly sunken in, and the skin around the earring looks puffy. Earrings should not recess; but rather, they should be on top of the ear, showing off its beauty. I would also not want them to tight that they leave an impression on the skin from being squished.

Hope this makes sense, but yes... for me, I would loosen the tension a bit.
I personally prefer a very loose tension for some breathing space. The earrings are not going to fall off due to the French clip closing.

- Post Thickness: The post thickness will affect how sore your ear piercing is when you wear them for a while. I have the worst ear piercing. I did it at a mall when I was a kid. My ear piercing is very low, and the hole itself is small. This means if I wear the VCA standard thick post, my ears will get sore and sometimes bleed after wearing them for a day. Wear your earrings for a day and see how your ear piercing feels. If your ear piercing feels okay, no need to change to thinner post. If your ear piercing hurts/is sore/bleeds, then yes, I would suggest asking for a thinner post.

- Post Length: First, if you have to loosen the tension a bit, this does not mean you need a longer post. A longer post is not better if it's not needed. All you need is for the post to poke out a tiny bit from the back of the earring clip.

When putting on earrings, the bottom earlobe needs to go between the clip opening for the post to go through the ear piercing.
If your post is super long, it's going to be awkward and cumbersome to put the earrings on as you now have to angle them property due to the long post being in the way.

Let me elaborate on this a bit as it may be hard to understand. I posted three photos of my VA earrings. The first photo is my earring closed. You can see the post sticks out just a tiny bit, not too long. The second photo shows the clip opened. You can see how much "room" there is around the clip opening. You can just grab the earring and stick it in your ear piercing. The third photo shows a longer post which I extended as shown in red. The post is super long to demonstrate the point. See how long the post is now with that red added? Next, you will see a blue circle. That blue circle is now the opening your earlobe has to clear to put on the earring. This is what I mean by you now have to angle the earring to almost "thread" your ear piercing through the post.

With your high ear piercing, a longer post will make it worse as you have a lot of "earlobe" to clear.
I would suggest only lengthing the post if you need it due to the tension being a lot looser which I doubt. As I mentioned, I wear my tension pretty loose, and I do not required a longer post. I only need a thinner one.

Whew... sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps. Good luck with your earrings!

And... congratulations on your earrings! The YG MOP combo is my absolute favorite stone and metal combo. It just glows against the skin and face!

IMG_4247.png

IMG_4251.png

IMG_4250.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Hi! Thanks for tagging me. I have the worst ear piercing, so I always need to make adjustments to my earrings.
I would be happy to share my thoughts, and of course, this is my opinion only as everyone has their own preferences.

Summary:
Yes, I do think you need to adjust both the tension and height as you mentioned. I will elaborate a bit more on each adjustment to provide more insight.

- Height: I agree with you. The earrings sit too high. This is because your ear piercing is high, hence you need to lower your earrings by using the top hole. You can see also in your third photo that you had to clip them on angled in order for them to fit your ear lobe. This make the Alhambra motif look like an "X" and not like a "+" sign. If you remove the earrings and hold them vertical, they are meant to be a "+" sign look. Like this photo below... see how her earrings are a "+" and not an "X"? In your second photo, yours are currently an "X". I would have VCA use the top hole to lower the earrings to allow more space for your earlobe.
View attachment 5872447

- Tension: Yes, I also agree you need to loosen the tension. Looking your third photo, for me, they would be a bit too tight. Even if they feel okay, the visual to me is a bit off. Why? Because it looks like the earrings now are "pressing" into your skin. You can tell by the edge of the earrings the skin there looks a bit "puffed up" (e.g. squished). For me, I like earrings to sit on top of skin, not pressed into the skin. I think when earrings are worn tight where it presses into skin, it makes the earlobes look fat and swollen. Kind of like when people wear rings that are too tight, you get that dreaded sausage finger look.

An earring example is when you sometimes see people wear tiny studs. They tighten the post so much, the stud is slightly sunken in, and the skin around the earring looks puffy. Earrings should not recess; but rather, they should be on top of the ear, showing off its beauty. I would also not want them to tight that they leave an impression on the skin from being squished.

Hope this makes sense, but yes... for me, I would loosen the tension a bit.
I personally prefer a very loose tension for some breathing space. The earrings are not going to fall off due to the French clip closing.

- Post Thickness: The post thickness will affect how sore your ear piercing is when you wear them for a while. I have the worst ear piercing. I did it at a mall when I wa a kid. My ear piercing is very low, and the hole itself is small. This means if I wear the VCA standard thick post, my ears will get sore and sometimes bleed after wearing them for a day. Wear your earrings for a day and see how your ear piercing feels. If your ear piercing feels okay, no need to change to thinner post. If your ear piercing hurts/is sore/bleeds, then yes, I would suggest asking for a thinner post.

- Post Length: First, if you have to loosen the tension a bit, this does not mean you need a longer post. A longer post is not better if it's not needed. All you need is the post to poke out a tiny bit from the back of the earring clip.

When putting on earrings, the bottom earlobe needs to go between the clip opening for the post to go through the ear piercing.
If your post is super long, it's going to be awkward and cumbersome to put the earrings on as you now have to angle them property due to the long post being in the way.

Let me elaborate on this a bit as it may be hard to understand. I posted three photos of my VA earrings. The first photo is my earrings closed. You can see the post sticks out just a tiny bit, not too long. The second photo shows the clip opened. You can see how much "room" there is around the clip opening. You can just grab the earring and stick it in your ear piercing. The third photo shows a longer post which I extended as shown in red. The post is super long to demonstrate the point. See how long the post is now with that red added? Next, you will see a blue circle. That blue circle is now the opening your earlobe has to clear to put on the earring. This is what I mean by you now have to angle the earring to almost "thread" your ear piercing through the post.

With your high ear piercing, a longer post will make it worse as you have a lot of "earlobe" to clear.
I would suggest only lengthing the post if you need it due to the tension being a lot looser which I doubt. As I mentioned, I wear my tension pretty loose, and I do not required a longer post. I only need a thinner one.

Whew... sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps. Good luck with your earrings!

And... congratulations on your earrings! The YG MOP combo is my absolute favorite stone and metal combo. It just glows against the skin and face!

View attachment 5872471

View attachment 5872473

View attachment 5872475
Thanks sooo much for the explanation. I went through your descriptions previously to assess what I might need but so thankful you were able to explain it in detail based on the photos I shared. I do have to angle it so I kinda felt it’s not looking the way it should. I wore the earrings for half a day and it seemed ok so I may start off with moving the post and tension.
Thank you so much.

Thanks and I agree on the yg mop combo. :heart:
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAkoya
Hi! Thanks for tagging me. I have the worst ear piercing, so I always need to make adjustments to my earrings.
I would be happy to share my thoughts, and of course, this is my opinion only as everyone has their own preferences.

Summary:
Yes, I do think you need to adjust both the tension and height as you mentioned. I will elaborate a bit more on each adjustment to provide more insight.

- Height: I agree with you. The earrings sit too high. This is because your ear piercing is high, hence you need to lower your earrings by using the top hole. You can see also in your third photo that you had to clip them on angled in order for them to fit your ear lobe. This make the Alhambra motif look like an "X" and not like a "+" sign. If you remove the earrings and hold them vertical, they are meant to be a "+" sign look. Like this photo below... see how her earrings are a "+" and not an "X"? In your second photo, yours are currently an "X". I would have VCA use the top hole to lower the earrings to allow more space for your earlobe.
View attachment 5872447

- Tension: Yes, I also agree you need to loosen the tension. Looking your third photo, for me, they would be a bit too tight. Even if they feel okay, the visual to me is a bit off. Why? Because it looks like the earrings now are "pressing" into your skin. You can tell by the edge of the earrings the skin there looks a bit "puffed up" (e.g. squished). For me, I like earrings to sit on top of skin, not pressed into the skin. I think when earrings are worn tight where it presses into skin, it makes the earlobes look fat and swollen. Kind of like when people wear rings that are too tight, you get that dreaded sausage finger look.

An earring example is when you sometimes see people wear tiny studs. They tighten the post so much, the stud is slightly sunken in, and the skin around the earring looks puffy. Earrings should not recess; but rather, they should be on top of the ear, showing off its beauty. I would also not want them to tight that they leave an impression on the skin from being squished.

Hope this makes sense, but yes... for me, I would loosen the tension a bit.
I personally prefer a very loose tension for some breathing space. The earrings are not going to fall off due to the French clip closing.

- Post Thickness: The post thickness will affect how sore your ear piercing is when you wear them for a while. I have the worst ear piercing. I did it at a mall when I was a kid. My ear piercing is very low, and the hole itself is small. This means if I wear the VCA standard thick post, my ears will get sore and sometimes bleed after wearing them for a day. Wear your earrings for a day and see how your ear piercing feels. If your ear piercing feels okay, no need to change to thinner post. If your ear piercing hurts/is sore/bleeds, then yes, I would suggest asking for a thinner post.

- Post Length: First, if you have to loosen the tension a bit, this does not mean you need a longer post. A longer post is not better if it's not needed. All you need is for the post to poke out a tiny bit from the back of the earring clip.

When putting on earrings, the bottom earlobe needs to go between the clip opening for the post to go through the ear piercing.
If your post is super long, it's going to be awkward and cumbersome to put the earrings on as you now have to angle them property due to the long post being in the way.

Let me elaborate on this a bit as it may be hard to understand. I posted three photos of my VA earrings. The first photo is my earring closed. You can see the post sticks out just a tiny bit, not too long. The second photo shows the clip opened. You can see how much "room" there is around the clip opening. You can just grab the earring and stick it in your ear piercing. The third photo shows a longer post which I extended as shown in red. The post is super long to demonstrate the point. See how long the post is now with that red added? Next, you will see a blue circle. That blue circle is now the opening your earlobe has to clear to put on the earring. This is what I mean by you now have to angle the earring to almost "thread" your ear piercing through the post.

With your high ear piercing, a longer post will make it worse as you have a lot of "earlobe" to clear.
I would suggest only lengthing the post if you need it due to the tension being a lot looser which I doubt. As I mentioned, I wear my tension pretty loose, and I do not required a longer post. I only need a thinner one.

Whew... sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps. Good luck with your earrings!

And... congratulations on your earrings! The YG MOP combo is my absolute favorite stone and metal combo. It just glows against the skin and face!

View attachment 5872471

View attachment 5872473

View attachment 5872475
I saved this post for reference. Thanks!!
 
Top