The Story of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Ballerinas
Van Cleef & Arpels’ iconic ballerina clips were born from a longstanding fascination with movement, elegance, and the world of dance. Decades before high jewelry became intertwined with modern pop culture, the maison was already translating the grace of ballet into precious stones, silk-like goldwork, and miniature works of art.
That connection reached a legendary moment in 1967, just before the New York premiere of George Balanchine’s ballet Jewels. Balanchine and celebrated ballerina Suzanne Farrell visited Van Cleef & Arpels on Fifth Avenue to meet the press, cementing the relationship between haute joaillerie and performance. What followed became part of jewelry lore.
Some accounts suggest Claude Arpels himself inspired the concept of a ballet centered entirely around gemstones. Others claim Balanchine found inspiration during his daily walks past the maison’s glittering Fifth Avenue windows, where diamonds, rubies, and emeralds shimmered like choreography frozen in time. Whether myth or reality, the story perfectly reflects the spirit of both houses: movement transformed into emotion, artistry elevated into spectacle.
The ballet itself mirrored the language of gemstones—Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds each representing distinct moods, musicality, and visual worlds. It was a natural extension of Van Cleef & Arpels’ universe, where jewels were never simply adornment, but expressions of rhythm, femininity, and imagination.
Today, the maison’s ballerina clips remain among the most collectible and recognizable creations in high jewelry history. With flowing tutus rendered in calibrated gemstones and poised mid-performance poses, they capture not only the beauty of dance, but the enduring romance between couture, movement, and storytelling.
However, the three-act ballet—Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds—may very well have drawn inspiration from Van Cleef & Arpels’ celebrated ballerina brooches. Long before Jewels premiered on stage, the maison had already transformed the poetry of dance into high jewelry through its exquisitely crafted ballerina clips.
Created in Paris during the 1940s, many of the earlier dancers were designed as elegant daytime jewels, fashioned in gold with vibrant turquoise or ruby-set skirts and delicate rose-cut diamond faces. As the designs evolved in New York, they became increasingly theatrical and opulent—crafted in platinum, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds that mirrored the grandeur of the city itself.
Despite the variations in style and extravagance, one defining detail united every Van Cleef & Arpels ballerina: the luminous rose-cut diamond face. Soft, expressive, and almost ethereal, these tiny diamond features gave each dancer an unmistakable humanity, capturing the illusion of movement, emotion, and performance in miniature form.
About The Author
Debbie Azar is the Co-Founder and President of Gemological Science International (GSI), one of the largest gemological organizations in the world, and a distinguished leader in the global diamond and jewelry industry. As an executive with extensive knowledge of the jewelry and gem lab industries, her entrepreneurial skills and vision have helped GSI achieve rapid and continuous growth worldwide, establishing 13 leading-edge gemological facilities on four continents. She currently serves on the boards of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, Responsible Jewellery Council, and Jewelers for Children, and is a member of the 24 Karat Club of New York. She has been featured in Forbes, Daily Mail, Good Morning America, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fox Business, Fox5, CBS2, BOLDTV, Varney&Co, The Street, and NASDAQ, among others.
