Van Cleef & Arpels Vintage Alhambra Necklace 10 motif Onyx

The Alhambra 10-motif necklace in Onyx is the darker, more graphic sibling of Van Cleef & Arpels's signature quatrefoil, ten clovers of black stone strung along a yellow gold chain. Where the Mother of Pearl version reads soft and everyday, Onyx pulls the same silhouette into evening territory, the matte-to-glossy black surface holding a hard, defined edge against the gold border rather than catching light the way a pearlescent stone would.

Van Cleef & Arpels has produced the Alhambra collection continuously since 1968, and the 10-motif length remains the most recognised of its three standard necklace lengths, long enough to sit past the collarbone without needing to be doubled. Onyx has been part of the house's core stone offering for most of that run, favoured for exactly this kind of contrast piece, worn alone against a plain neckline or stacked with a shorter pendant in a different stone.

Because onyx has stayed in near-continuous production since the Alhambra line launched, sourcing a full 10-motif necklace with consistent, evenly matched stones across all ten clovers is generally more straightforward than with rarer natural stones like malachite or carnelian. It is also one of the more frequently resold Alhambra pieces on the pre-owned market, which gives Clutch a wider pool to select genuinely well-kept examples from before a piece is offered for sale.

Clutch sources this necklace both new and pre-owned. Condition, gold weight and stone finish are checked and documented on the specific piece before any purchase is confirmed, and every item goes through Legit Grails, an independent authentication service, ahead of sale, not graded in-house. Enquire for current availability and pricing.