Cinematic Jewels

Although it was the faithfully recreation of historical details that made The Kings Speech so visually rich, we love that they made the effort to included the iconic Van Cleef & Arpels’ zip necklace for the Duchess of Winsor.

Although her character is seen wearing the Zip in the film, the real duchess never did. She did though provide the inspiration, suggesting the playful idea to Renée Puissant, the daughter of the brand’s founder Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels, in 1938.

The Duke and Duchess had a passion for jewellery and designed and commissioned many pieces but it wasn’t until the 1950s that technology caught up with the duchess’s imagination and the Zip necklace could actually be created.

Taking up to 900 hours to make, the necklace is a real working zipper, with each tooth hand-shaped in platinum or gold, and set with rubies, sapphires or diamonds.