Van Cleef Mini Frivole Earrings

For some time now, I’ve been hunting for a pair of everyday gold earrings – I have a few favorite easy studs, but they’re all silver toned. I had a few final candidates and thought about it for a while and finally thought that I’d give the Van Cleef mini Frivole earrings a try! They’re quite cute, right? Below:

The problem – I hadn’t been able to try them on. Since the beginning of the year now I’ve been meaning to go to Van Cleef but I just haven’t had the time – so finally I just went with my gut and placed an order online. It’s funny, I used to never think I’d order fine jewelry online but after kids it is just so much easier. Plus, with the online store there are free shipping and returns. This was my first purchase from VCA online, and when it arrived I was so impressed by the packaging that I thought I would share!

First – I just have to say that the earrings, which are tiny, came in a HUGE box. At first I thought that they were a diaper delivery I was also expecting that day but then I saw the truck was FedEx and they were requiring a signature, I was like…OK? And opened. Everything was super well packaged, covered in thin foam.

From underneath the foam there came this very large, very nice velveteen box. I’d never seen this box before with any of my Van Cleef purchases and was surprised! Plus, as a former product manager, I appreciate a generous packaging spend. This was when I thought I’d photograph, ha.

You can get an idea of the box’s size here – isn’t it really nice? Lined with black velvet, in a really pretty kind of “bird’s nest” confetti set up, and then you’ve got your tiny jewelry box and the certificate and all that stuff. I don’t know if you can tell in the one of the photos, there’s a little sleeve in the lid for you to stick the documents, etc, in.

And then finally – the earrings! I had been looking at the mini frivole earrings since they came out in 2017. At the time they were $2600, but sold out quite quickly, and then Van Cleef did some price increases, and then I was busy with baby, blah blah. When I checked this year, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had only risen $40 in price since 2017. Probably due to the last few price decreases.

And finally, for anyone considering – a photo on my ear. Again these are definitely a “mini” size – but I think they have decent presence! Not *too* mini. And, most importantly, they are so comfortable – and not flashy at all. They also have very secure push backs, unlike the omega backs that most of the larger Van Cleef earrings have, which are also secure, but which I can find to be a tiny pain sometimes when I’m in a rush. Overall I’m really happy with these earrings. I would feel comfortable wearing these on the subway, running errands, traveling. And maybe my daughter might want to wear them when she is older.

Would you ever buy fine jewelry online? For a larger purchase I think I would still want to go to a sales associate for personalized service (and after-purchase care if needed) but I was really happy with my VCA experience. And also think the presentation box is really lovely. Perfect for a gift.