Zipper necklace inspired by Wallis Simpson

Have you ever wished for a ring or maybe a necklace made to your own design? In the 1930s, Wallis Simpson, the colorful Duchess of Windsor did just that and asked the French jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels to make her dream come true.

The Duchess’ unique design wasn’t actually produced until 1951, when Van Cleef & Arpels stunned the world with its iconic zipper necklace. Adorned with diamonds and jewels, its working golden zipper transforms the necklace into a stunning bracelet when zipped.

The remarkable zipper necklace is at once fine jewelry — Van Cleef exhibited four new versions at the 2011 Paris Haute Couture shows — and fine art. The new versions were featured in Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, which ran through June 2011.

The jewelry you’ve dreamed about may not make it to Paris or the Cooper-Hewitt, but it can come true, more affordably than you think!

Like Van Cleef & Arpels, Delmonte-Smelson Jewelers has designers on staff who can translate your design, produce artistic renderings (interpretive drawings) for your approval, and craft fit-for-royalty custom jewelry just for you. And it won’t cost you a Duchess’s Dowry!

To get started on a custom ring, necklace or other jewelry for yourself or a truly unique and personal gift for a loved one, visit our Custom Designs page to learn more, then Schedule an Appointment. Or just give us a call: (516) 357-8888.

If you enjoyed this article, you might like to watch Van Cleef & Arpels video on YouTube: The iconic Zip necklace revisited for the Haute Couture Week.

HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE PERFECTION?

LIKE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, SOMETIMES YOU JUST KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT.

Hearts On Fire captures that intensity and presents it to you in a diamond like no other, for the person like no other. The quality and integrity of Hearts On Fire diamonds make them the perfect expression of the intensity of your feelings.

A RARE SENSE OF CRAFT

The Hearts On Fire story begins with only the rarest diamond crystals, selected from less than 1% of the world’s gem quality rough diamonds and chosen from conflict-free sources.

These rough diamond crystals are then touched by only the best hands. Artisans whose talents and skills meet Hearts On Fire’s exacting standards are as rare as the diamonds themselves. Fewer than 400 master diamond cutters are qualified to create a Hearts On Fire diamond, and only 100 can create the patented, square cut Dream® diamond.

While most manufacturers use a 10X magnification process, Hearts On Fire artisans cut and polish our diamonds by hand at 100X magnification using unique, vibration-free cutting techniques and imaging software. That’s 10 times the global industry standard.

Our master craftsmen take four times longer to cut and polish our diamonds, taking the time to create a brilliant, breathtaking work of art. One as unique and valued as the person receiving it.

A PERFECT SETTING. A PIVOTAL MOMENT.

The World’s Most Perfectly Cut Diamond deserves an equally extraordinary stage. Our diamonds are placed in exquisite settings to showcase the diamond’s brilliance and intensity.

Whether you are looking for an Engagement Ring, Earrings, Pendant or Right Hand Ring, there is a spectacular Hearts On Fire design for everyone.

A CUT ABOVE

Of the 4Cs – cut, clarity, color, and carat weight – cut is the only characteristic under man’s control. It is also the most important attribute in revealing the diamond’s most intense beauty.

When a diamond is perfectly cut, the natural phenomenon of light magically appears. This scintillation creates a ring of flawlessly matched hearts when viewed from the bottom and a brilliant, eight-pointed Fireburst® that can be seen across the top, hence our rather unique name.

Any extraneous rough crystal is cut away to ensure that every Hearts On Fire and Dream diamond becomes a true work of art. The Most Perfectly Cut Diamond In The World® displays ultimate fire, sparkle, and brilliance every time to look larger and sparkle more than ordinary diamonds, reflecting light in gleaming white and all seven colors of the rainbow.

Even in candlelit settings, a Hearts On Fire diamond can be seen radiantly dancing from 10 tables away.

This is the easiest of the 4Cs to determine: The loose diamond is weighed on a calibrated scale. (A carat equals 1/5 of a gram or 1/142 of an ounce.) Each carat is divided into points; each point represents 1/100th of a carat. So, a “half carat stone” contains fifty points.

As diamonds increase in size, their cost tends to increase geometrically. Thus, a one-carat diamond will cost considerably more than twice as much as a one-half carat stone of equal quality. But carat weight can be very misleading. For example, a diamond might have far greater brilliance and more value if more of it were cut away, and it consequently weighed less. Diamonds of equal carat weights can have huge disparities in price.

Some diamond shapes, like the cushion cut, do not really lend themselves to small stones, whereas even a small round brilliant stone can be very striking. You can decide what diamond size will work best for you and your budget by balancing carat weight against the other characteristics.

Clarity is the evaluation of a diamond’s internal and external characteristics. The fewer inclusions or blemishes, the more desirable the diamond. (Inclusions are inside the diamond; blemishes are on the outside of the diamond.) To locate most of these tiny characteristics, a jeweler will use a ten power microscope, then, evaluating the size, location, nature, number, and color of all the inclusions and blemishes, a clarity grade is assigned. This characteristic is more than cosmetic; a heavily included diamond can be susceptible to breakage.

There are six main categories:

Flawless (FL): Extremely rare. No inclusions or blemishes.

Internally Flawless (IF): No inclusions and only minor blemishes.

Very Very Slightly Included (VVS): Very minute inclusions seen under scope.

Very Slightly Included (VS): Minor inclusions seen under scope.

Slightly Included (SI): Noticeable inclusions seen under scope and a small percentage visible to the naked eye.

Included: Significant inclusions seen with the naked eye. Notice that inclusions are visible to the naked eye only in the I grade.

In most cases, there’s no link between clarity and beauty.

Color for white diamonds can vary from colorless (“D” grade and exceedingly rare) to light yellow (“Z” ). Most diamonds possess some degree of yellow or brown. Small, nearly undetectable, differences in color can make a substantial difference in a diamond’s cost. Generally, the more colorless the diamond the greater its value. If a diamond is well cut, and this is especially true with the round brilliant cut, the diamond’s refraction and dispersion often will disguise certain degrees of coloration.

A stone with a color rating near the bottom of the alphabet may benefit from a yellow gold setting instead of a platinum or a white gold setting. Stones that possess more color than a “Z” rating may be prized as a Fancy (Yellow or Brown or Red or Blue, etc.).

The Round Brilliant shape is by far the most popular; in fact, it has been the top-selling diamond shape for more than one hundred years. The round brilliant most effectively displays a diamond’s unique ability to reflect light and to sparkle. (The oval and pear-shaped cuts are variations of the round brilliant.) When cutting Round Brilliant diamonds, the cutter must adhere to a set of strict guidelines that will maximize the diamond’s brilliance. (Notice that the facets on Brilliant diamonds are triangular or kite-shaped.)

All other shapes of diamonds are referred to as “fancy” cuts, and there are many. Among rectangular stones, the brilliance of the round standard is rivaled only by the square princess cut and its cropped-cornered cousin, the radiant cut. The emerald cut is elegant and always popular and is an example of a “step-cut” diamond. (Notice that its facets are rectangular shaped – like steps.)

In grading, “cut” evaluates the skill in the cutting of the diamond. Cut is arguably the most important element because it is directly responsible for the diamond’s sparkle and brilliance.

A well-cut diamond is cut precisely to the proportions that yield the most light return. Here’s the reason a diamond sparkles: Light enters through its table (top) and reflects off the cone-shaped pavilion until it comes back through the top, giving the stone that spectral sparkle. But if a diamond isn’t cut well, the light never comes back up; it leaks out the bottom or sides of the stone. It has little sparkle and life.

Three components comprise “cut.” They are: proportions, symmetry, and polish. Do the cuts on the diamond meet the angle guidelines for maximum dispersion of light? Is the stone symmetrical? Are the stone’s surfaces smooth? Can you see sanding marks? All three of these elements greatly affect the quality of the cut and the diamond’s value, brilliance, and beauty. A grade is assigned to the Cut.