DESIGNER 101
Tiffany & Co. 101: America’s First
House of Fine Jewelry
By Ann B, Jun 16, 2021
Tiffany & Co. brought luxury jewelry to America.
As America’s premier jewelry house — known for its signature shade of blue, the Tiffany Diamond, countless engagement rings, and Elsa Peretti — is also the creative force behind such American icons as the Great American Seal and the NFL Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy. It also served as the backdrop for the book and film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Tiffany & Co. in 1889. Courtesy Business Insider.
Tiffany’s flagship moved uptown in 1905, from Union Square to 37th Street and Fifth Avenue, where it remained until 1940 when it moved farther uptown to its flagship location at 727 Fifth Avenue, which is under renovation until 2022. Until then, the flagship is temporarily located at 610 Fifth Avenue.
Tiffany’s Robin egg blue tone symbolizes the house, but it wasn’t until 2001 that Tiffany officially created this Tiffany blue — the hue that is synonymous with the house and the status that comes with it. Tiffany worked with Pantone to make “1837 Blue.”
Pantone’s 1837 Blue. Courtesy Pinterest.
The label would have a number of milestones in the world of jewelry. In 1968, it introduced tanzanite, a deep blue stone found at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, showcasing it in its jewelry. The Return to Tiffany key ring, featuring a heart with the words “Please return to Tiffany & Co. New York” and a unique serial number, debuted in 1969. The collection is now one of Tiffany’s best-selling. A stunning green stone, discovered at the base of Tsavo National Park close to the border between Kenya and Tanzania, is introduced by the house, and Tiffany names it tsavorite. In 2009, just as the United States was recovering from a recession, Tiffany unveiled its Tiffany Keys collection, symbolizing hope and the possibility of a bright future. To commemorate its 175th anniversary in 2012, Tiffany released a new metal: Rubedo. Two Ts at the end of bracelets and rings marked the Tiffany T collection in 2014, symbolizing a new era for the house. Tiffany HardWare, a fashion-forward line inspired by the house’s archives, is released in 2017, representing New York’s power and edge. The same year also saw the debut of the Tiffany Save the Wild collection, designs in the shapes of animals like elephants and lions. All of the proceeds go to the Wildlife Conservation Network. In 2020, Covid-19 came down on the world, and the global pandemic would change the way we live. Tiffany unveiled its T1 collection, to stand for the courage, strength, and optimism in which the house believes.
Tiffany has changed hands a number of times. In 1978 it was acquired by Disney. From 1979 to 1984, Tiffany was owned by Avon. More recently French luxury conglomerate LVMH acquired the house in January 2021 after a year of negotiations and the onset of the global pandemic.
An American Symbol
The American jewelry house is responsible for a number of iconic symbols in American culture. Now an icon in its own right, the New York Yankees adopted its famed logo from Tiffany’s. The house created the NY logo for an NYPD medal of honor. The baseball team took it as their own logo in 1909. Most Americans have owned a Tiffany design at one point in their lives; the house redesigned the Great Seal of the United States in 1885, and it appears on the one-dollar bill. Tiffany also conceptualized the cross for Medal of Honor for the US Navy. Tiffany also played a role in the NFL; it created the seven-pound Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy for the first Super Bowl in 1967 as well as in creating the championship rings. The two-foot-tall, 16-pound NBA Championship Trophy was designed by Tiffany in 1978.
The NFL Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy by Tiffany. Courtesy Robb Report.
The Tiffany Diamond
One of the world’s greatest yellow diamonds was discovered in Africa in the Kimberley Diamond Mines in 1877. It weighed in at 287.42 carats in the rough, and the following year, Charles Lewis Tiffany bought it for $18,000. The acquisition cemented Tiffany’s reputation as the “King of Diamonds.”
The Tiffany Diamond. Courtesy the Hollywood Reporter.
The Tiffany & Co. Creative Class
Upon Charles Lewis Tiffany’s death in 1902, his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, was named the house’s first design director. He would become an important figure in the American Art Deco movement, with his colorful aesthetic defining the house during that period. The house also became the first American retailer to have a gemologist, Dr. George Frederick Kunz, on staff. In 1903 the gemstone Kunzite was named after him and sold at the house after its discovery. Jean Schlumberger, the legendary jewelry designer, joined Tiffany in 1956. He became known for his playful, fantastical, and whimsical designs that captured the imagination of many. From the mid-’50s to early ‘60s, Andy Warhol designed holiday cards for the jeweler. In 1974 Tiffany hired Elsa Peretti, who arguably was the house’s chicest designer. Peretti gave the house its edge by bringing back silver to the house and creating fashionable jewelry meant to be worn every day. John Loring became Tiffany’s design director in 1979. He still remains at the house as design director emeritus. In 1980 Paloma Picasso captured the fast strokes of the graffiti that was prevalent on New York’s streets, using it in the designs for her first collection with Tiffany & Co. Reed Krakoff, who had no jewelry design experience and helmed Coach, was hired as artistic director in 2017 because of his “deep understanding of iconic American design.” He would leave the house in 2021.
Tiffany and Hollywood
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the 1961 romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly and George Peppard as a struggling writer, gave Tiffany a starring role in a Hollywood film. Inspired by Truman Capote’s 1958 novella of the same name, the film would go on to win an Academy Award for best song, and considered “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant by the US Library of Congress. Countless celebrities have worn Tiffany on the red carpet and in everyday life. In 2021, Andra Day wore over $2 million worth of Tiffany & Co. to the Oscars. Over the years, royalty like Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as celebrities like Michelle Williams, Priyanka Chopra, Lupita Nyong’o, Kate Hudson, Scarlett Johannsen, Kim Kardashian, Carey Mulligan, Ansel Elgort, Billy Porter, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Arianna Grande, and more have worn Tiffany & Co.
Audrey Hepburn in the Breakfast at Tiffany’s poster. Courtesy Amazon.
“Return to Tiffany” Supreme Collaboration
In November 2021, the legendary New York-based luxury jewelry company announced a limited edition capsule collection with streetwear label Supreme in a move to catapult its cool factor. The starting point for the Supreme x Tiffany & Co. collaboration is a silver 1969 key chain engraved with the instructions “PLEASE RETURN TO Tiffany & Co. NEW YORK.” Named “Return to Tiffany,” the collection includes a contemporary, sneakerhead-worthy version of the storied key chain that reads “PLEASE RETURN TO Supreme NEW YORK” on a silver heart. The inscription can be found on a heart-shaped pendant that hangs on a ball chain necklace, a heart key-shaped pocket knife, an oval pendant on a string of pearls, heart stud earrings, and a silver oval-shped keychain. The capsule collection also includes a minimal Supreme x Tiffany & Co. t-shirt that shows the Supreme logo in Tiffany & Co. Robin Egg Blue on the front and a Tiffany & Co. logo on the back.
Items from the 2021 Supreme x Tiffany & Co. “Return to Tiffany” collaboration. Courtesy Hypebeast.
Materials
Tiffany produces items in virtually every precious metal and stone, with a few unique materials that are exclusive to the label, like the Rubedo metal that was introduced in 2012 to celebrate the house’s 175th anniversary. Stones discovered by the house include the green tsavorite, which was mined between Tanzania and Kenya, and tanzanite, a blue-purple stone found at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Tiffany also abides by the Tiffany Diamond Certificate, which, according to the house, “certifies the authenticity, integrity and grades of your Tiffany diamond, and is backed by our Full Lifetime Warranty.”
Sizing
Elsa Peretti Wave Single-Row Ring 18K Yellow Gold and Diamond
Size: 6
Width: 1.2 mm
South Sea Strand Necklace Cultured Pearls with Platinum and Diamonds
Length: 18.00 ”
Width: 0.5 mm
Schlumberger Lynn Bracelet in Platinum
with Diamonds
Circumference: 7.5 ”
Width: 0.4 mm
Paloma Picasso Loving Heart Pendant Necklace 18K Yellow Gold with Diamond
Length: 18.00″
Pendant Length: 15.50 mm
Pendant Width: 15.50 mm
Ladybug Pendant Pendant & Charms Platinum with Enamel and Diamonds
18 Diamonds 0.2ct.
Height/Length: 0.65 ”
Width: 0.65 “
Atlas Cocktail
Round Quartz
Watch
Case Size/Width: 26mm
Watch Height: 8mm
Band Width: 14mm
Wrist circumference: 6.0″
Clover Key Pendant Necklace
Length: 18.00 ”
Length: 18 “
Legacy Band Ring in Platinum with Diamonds
26 Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds ~1.5ct.
Width: 3.4 mm
Wire Bracelet in 18K Rose Gold with Diamonds and Mother Of Pearl
Circumference: 6.25 “
Product Range and Special Editions
South Sea Strand Necklace Cultured Pearls with Platinum and Diamonds
Schlumberger Lynn Bracelet in Platinum
with Diamonds
The Victoria
Collection
Four hand-cut diamond petals on a four-petal flower mark this collection of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and more, featuring round, pear-shaped, and marquise diamonds.
Paloma Picasso
The daughter of one of history’s most famous artists, Picasso found inspiration in the graffiti that covered New York’s gritty streets in the ‘70s. So much so, that she incorporated its quick strokes into her inaugural jewelry collection for the house in 1979.
Elsa Peretti
Elsa Peretti added a dose of glamorous edge to Tiffany when she joined the house in the mid-’70s. A muse and close friend of Halston, she was a regular at Studio54. Inspired by art, design, and the world around her, Peretti’s fluid collection would become one of the house’s best-selling ones.
The Tiffany T Collection
Debuted in 2014, The Tiffany T Collection ushered in a new look for the house, representing the creativity, happiness, love, and strength that Tiffany & Co. signifies.
The Atlas X Collection
The Atlas X Collection takes Tiffany’s Roman numeral motif, adding it to contemporary necklaces, rings, bracelets, and more.
The Keys Collection
After the world emerged from a global recession in 2008, Tiffany unveiled its Keys collection, featuring pendants that symbolize optimism, hope, and the possibility of a bright future.
HardWear
The interplay between tension and proportion are significant markers of the hip HardWear collection that was introduced in 2017 to represent New York’s power and edge.
1837 Wide Cuff Bracelet Sterling Silver
This bracelet takes signature Tiffany markings that are typically on the inside of a ring, engraving them on the outside of a cuff bracelet.
