Van Cleef & Arpels Vintage Alhambra Onyx 5 Motif Bracelet 18K Yellow Gold

Black and gold, five times over.

18K yellow gold with five onyx clovers, each held by four small prongs tucked into the corners where the leaves meet. Look closely and you'll see them. Most people never do.

The Alhambra motif is a good luck charm. Jacques Arpels used to pick four-leaf clovers in his garden and hand them out to his staff, and in 1968 the house turned the idea into jewelry. Five motifs is the original bracelet format, and it's still the one that sells out first.

The beaded edge is what gives it away as Van Cleef. Every clover is ringed in tiny gold spheres, even and round. They catch light the flat onyx doesn't, which is why the bracelet has some sparkle to it without a single diamond.