Céline Paris Vintage Horse-drawn Carriage Necklace

Features

Why we love it

Description & history

This vintage Céline Paris necklace is one of the finest examples of the understated chic that characterises the house's jewellery — the fine, lightweight gold-tone Figaro chain, the small horse-drawn carriage pendant sculpted in relief, barely larger than a fingernail: nothing ostentatious, everything refined. And yet, for those who know what to look for, it is one of the house's most history-laden symbols.

The calèche — a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a galloping horse — is one of the most recurring and emblematic motifs in the Céline universe. Present from the first decades of the house founded in 1945, it symbolises movement, elegance and bourgeois 19th-century Paris — an imagery perfectly aligned with the DNA of Céline Vipiana, whose creations were aimed at the active, well-dressed Parisian woman. It has appeared on garment buttons, belt buckles, jewellery and the house's silk scarves since the 1970s — a stylistic constant spanning decades and creative directors.

This miniature pendant (2 × 0.4 cm) in gold-tone metal sculpted in relief is remarkably fine — galloping horse, coachman's silhouette, spoked wheels, everything is there in a format barely larger than a bracelet charm. Suspended from a fine, lightweight gold-tone Figaro-link chain measuring 39.5 cm, it sits as an elegant, understated choker — perfect layered with other chains, or worn alone for a subtle, connoisseur's Céline touch.

In good overall condition, the gold plating is even, with no major flaws. The Céline hallmark is engraved on the back of the pendant. Sold with a Rarr Vintage box — a vintage Céline jewel as understated as it is steeped in history, for those who prefer a sign to ostentation.