Van Cleef & Arpels Paris "Hawaii" Ring

Created circa 1938, this Van Cleef & Arpels Paris "Hawaii" ring is designed as a bombé-form cluster of ruby, sapphire and diamond forget-me-nots, completed by a broad, fluted 18K gold shank. By super star designer René Sim Lecaze, this ring is one model in a beloved line introduced in 1938, and is among various highly collectible "Hawaii" jewels.

Country: France
Circa: 1938
Materials: 17 round-cut rubies (approximate total weight 1.70 carats); 17 round-cut sapphires (approximate total weight 1.70 carats); 13 old European-cut and old mine-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 1.30 carats); 18K Gold; Platinum
Gram Weight: 17.0
Signed: CLEEF ARPELS, French Assay marks, partial maker's mark
Exhibition History: A ring of this design is held in the hertiage collection of Van Cleef & Arpels (see https://the-collection.vancleefarpels.com/en/creation/hawaii-ring/)
Literature: For a Hawaii ring of a similar design, see Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels, by Sarah B. Coffin, p. 257. The ring was included in an exhibition of the same name at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York, 2011. Also see Van Cleef and Arpels, The Art of High Jewelry, by Évelyne Possémé, p. 126.

The "Hawaii collection" was an instant hit among Van Cleef & Arpels high society, glamorous clients. After the completion of her estate "Shangri-La", set on five acres near Diamond Head, Honolulu Island, Doris Duke received the gift of a Hawaii ring and bracelet to celebrate her new vacation escape. The clusters of red, white and blue forget-me-nots gained a deeper significance during from 1939, at the beginning of World War II, and were styled by the firm's chief designer, René Sim Lecaze, as "les petite fleurs de la Résistance".