Gold and diamond necklace, Van Cleef & Arpels, 1956

Of tissu Jersey design, embellished to the side with a gold Mystère IV fighter jet and a line of graduating circular-cut diamonds, length approximately 380mm, signed Van Cleef & Arpels, numbered, French assay and maker's marks, case by Van Cleef & Arpels, the cover monogrammed J.A.

This necklace was given to Mme Jacqueline Auriol by aircraft industrialist Marcel Dassault, at a ceremony held on the Place Vendôme, 16 December 1956. The official occasion honoured Marcel Dassault, who received the Legion of Honor’s Grand Cross, France's highest award. It also marked the delivery of the 225^th Mystère IV jet ordered by the United States as part of an agreement with NATO.

Cf: Sylvie Raulet, Bijoux des Années 1940 et 1950, Paris, 1987, pg. 59 for an illustration of this necklace with an alternate gold plane element, which was given to Mme Auriol at the same time as the present element.

Signed VAN CLEEF & ARPELS and numbered 4426.C.S, French maker's mark. French assay marks for platinum and 18 carat yellow gold. Diamonds estimated to weigh a total of approximately 4.50 - 5.50 carats, on average G-H colour, VS clarity. Minor tarnish surrounding diamond enhanced cockpit area on gold plane element and to one clasp fitting. Clasp secure, safety latch. Signs of minor scratches to metal consistent with age and wear. In good condition. Gross weight approximately 131 grams. Case stamped Van Cleef & Arpels, 22 Place Vendôme, Paris. Cover of case monogrammed J.A for Jacqueline Auriol.
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“The Fastest Woman in the World”

Jacqueline Auriol (1917-2000)

Born to a wealthy shipbuilder on the Bay of Biscay and married at the age of twenty-one to the son of the future French president, Mme Auriol’s great beauty and privileged upbringing would never have predicted her spectacular future as one of the most daring test pilots of the 20th century. France’s first female test pilot, Mme Auriol not only became the first European woman to break the sound barrier, she was also named “the fastest woman in the world” when she flew 818km per hour over a 100km course, in 1951. Four years later, she broke Mach 2, flying at twice the speed of sound.

Mme Auriol’s entry into the world of aviation came shortly after World War II. A mother of two, she chose to stay in France during the war, living under a false identity while her husband partook in the resistance movement. Recalling this time she told The Washington Post in 1970, “I began to realize that I loved danger”. Following the war, her father-in-law, Vincent Auriol (1884-1966), became the first President of the Fourth French Republic. She and her family moved into the Elysée Palace where, at a dinner party one evening, she was seated beside a test pilot whose stories captivated her. Mesmerized, she asked if he would teach her to fly. “The parties and receptions were not enough to keep my interest,” she was quoted as saying - and her legacy was born.

A year after acquiring her pilot’s license in 1948, Mme Auriol was the passenger in a twin-motored hydroplane SCAN-30 when it crashed into the Seine. Unlike others on the flight, she survived, but was “broken in a million pieces”. “I had no face, no nose, nothing”, she said. Over the next couple of years she endured more than two dozen surgeries, the result of which was considered quite remarkable. As reported by a paper of the time “her nose might be American, but her smile remained unmistakably French”. Undeterred, Mme Auriol travelled to the US between her last two operations to earn her helicopter rating in only four short weeks.

In 1950, Mme Auriol earned her military license and qualified as France’s first female test pilot. On May 11, 1951, she set a new women’s speed record, flying 508.8 mph in a British Vampire jet, besting American Jacqueline Cochran’s previous record. This feat began a friendly rivalry between the two Jacqueline’s and the pair continued to exchange records throughout the following decade. In 1953, while flying a Mystère IV, Mme Auriol became only the second woman to break the sound barrier. She would later be one of the first test pilots of the supersonic Concorde.

She received many awards throughout her flying career including aviation awards from Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and was decorated with the French Legion d'Honneur. She also wrote an autobiography called Vivre pour Voler. At her death in 2000, Jacques Chirac, former President of France, called her ''the incarnation of courage and modernity for the French people.''