Pax clip
Creation details
- Creation year 1944
- Stone Diamond
- Stone Ruby
- Material Gold
- Material Platinum
- Usage Clip
- Dimensions 35 × 25 mm
The Pax clip celebrates newly recovered peace, and is an example of the many pieces of patriotic jewelry produced by Van Cleef & Arpels during the Second World War. It was made in November 1944 in celebration of the Liberation of Paris by the Allied troops in August of that year.
A stylized dove of polished yellow gold perches on the edge of a ring with spread wings, holding a card in its beak on which the word “Pax” (Peace) is engraved. A bezel-set ruby forms the bird’s eye. On the clip’s rim, the colors of the Allied flags (American, British, and French) are depicted in enamel, each one separated by a row of brilliant-cut diamonds.
Patriotic jewels
Patriotic jewelry originally referred to ornaments made of non-precious materials that replaced the gold jewelry bequeathed to the state in times of war by the population. In the twentieth century, they were signs of loyalty to one’s nation and in that respect, assumed a particularly symbolic value. Until the Second World War, these pieces were usually small in size and simply made, like the Touch Wood jewelry or the Nénette et Rintintin charms.
THE “TOUCH WOOD” COLLECTION
Permanence of these ornements after the war
With the end of the Second World War, Van Cleef & Arpels was inspired to produce numerous patriotic ornamentation. Another clip, made in 1944, displayed three Allied flags in enamel, hanging from a yellow gold ribbon, the bow of which was highlighted with sapphires, rubies, and brilliants. That same year, another clip was made: the Cockades clip, decorated with a bouquet of flowers—a very popular motif in the 1940s—in patriotic colors.
The celebration of the Liberation
In France at this time, in addition to jewelers, many of those involved with the arts chose to celebrate the Liberation and the Armistice in their work. “To symbolize the joy of liberated Paris,” Nina Ricci, for example, dreamed up a “large blue tulle dress dotted with stars.” In the same spirit, the Pax clip not only heralded the new era of the second half of the century, but also gave form to the utopian aspirations of the post-war period.
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