VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Brilliant-cut and baguette-cut diamonds, calibrated rubies
18k gold (750), platinum (950)
Signed and numbered, maker’s mark Art
Deco period
Length: : approx. 8 cm - Wt.: 23.4 g

A diamond, ruby, gold and platinum pair of brooches

Created after the war, these Van Cleef & Arpels brooches featuring storks were a ‘special commission’.
As patron of a unit of the ‘Escadrille des Cigognes’, the current owner’s grandmother was keen to wear this distinction and placed an order with the prestigious House on Place Vendôme. An air combat unit of the French army, the ‘Escadrille des Cigognes’ owes its name to a key moment in its history. Created in 1912 and commanded by Lieutenant Bellenger, it came under the command of Lieutenant Bellemois during a mission in Alsace.
As Bellenger bid farewell to the pilots, he compared their imminent arrival in Belfort to that of the storks heralding spring. This symbol would endure and become the unit’s insignia.
Storks with wings spread to the wind, wings raised high, in flight with wings lowered...the storks’ postures are varied, each representing a different aircraft. On this pair of brooches, their posture, known as ‘wings folded in a dive’, was chosen in June 1916 to represent SPA 26 Squadron, for which the seller’s grandmother was the patron. It was henceforth named ‘Cigogne de Saint Galmier’.