Van Cleef & Arpels pendant circa 1950, pre-Alhambra, by Georges Lenfant.

Type of jewelry: Signed jewelry
Period: Around 1950
Origin: French work from the house of Van Cleef & Arpels by Georges Lenfant (Hallmark: initials GL accompanied by a playing die and a bird’s wing).
Metal: Gold 750/1000 (18 k)
Total weight (gross): 9.50 grams
Dimensions (diameter): 2.8 cm
Nature of stones: Brilliant diamonds
State of conservation: Very good state of conservation
History:
As Nicholas Foulkes points out in the book “Alhambra: Van Cleef & Arpels”: The Alhambra pendant of the late 1960s was not a beginning but a step in a process of evolution… Indeed, the designs of the pieces in the shape of four-leaf clovers appeared in the 1920s (see illustration) at Van Cleef & Arpels. Jacques Arpels picked four-leaf clovers in the garden of his house to offer them to his colleagues as good luck charms.
This vintage pendant (circa 1950) by Georges Lenfant for Van Cleef & Arpels is one of the rare testimonies of this creative process.
Illustration (drawing): book “Alhambra: Van Cleef & Arpels” by Nicholas Foulkes (EXB, 2018).
Bibliographic references: Foulkes, Nicholas. Alhambra: Van Cleef & Arpels. EXB, 2018.
Reference: 23 073 1