Sapphire bracelet-watch, "Ludo Hexagon", Van Cleef & Arpels, 1938 - Sotheby's
The flexible band of honeycomb design, each link centring on a circular-cut sapphire, to a mystery set sapphire clasp concealing a cocktail watch, length approximately 180mm, dial signed Van Cleef & Arpels and numbered, French assay and maker’s marks. Estimate: 29,000 – 43,000 CHF
EXHIBITED: A similar 'Ludo Hexagon' bracelet watch set with aquamarines appeared in the exhibition Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels, Smithsonian, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, February 18-July 4, 2011, page 39, fig 34.
NOTE: Cf: Van Cleef & Arpels, The Art of High Jewellery, Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 2012, page 95 for a bracelet of similar design.
Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels. Genève | 14 mai 2013 - www.sothebys.com