Makara Ring. Van Cleef & Arpels

White gold, round diamonds, yellow gold, turquoises, mauve and pink sapphires, peridots, one 30.76-carat cushion-cut yellow (from Sri Lanka)

The central stone of the ring is a yellow sapphire with a golden glow and represents the colourful, festive world of the Oriental Ball. As all Van Cleef & Arpels' stones, this extremely pure gem of 30.76 carats has never been heated or artificially treated. On several parts of the mounting, particularly on the elephant’s trunks, Van Cleef & Arpels has applied the peg setting with the turquoises which perfectly enhances the stones.

Alexandre Serebriakoff's watercolors of Alexis de Rede's "Oriental Ball". One of the two white elephants guarding the courtyard of the Hotel Lambert ©Adagp, Paris 2011.

The Makara is one of the chimeras of Indian Mythology. On the ring, the use of the motif is a reminder of the two papier maché elephants standing guard on each side of the entrance to the Hôtel Lambert, on the evening of the Baron de Redé’s Oriental Ball in 1969.