Never mind breakfast at Tiffany’s. One step inside ”Bejewelled by Tiffany 1837-1987”, a retrospective of the iconic New York jeweler, and most visitors will want to stay for lunch as well as dinner.
Most of the 200 sparkling pieces now on display in London are from Tiffany’s own collection, with a few on loan from private individuals and getting a first public outing in a rare carat-laden exhibition.
Visitors may recognise the famous 128-carat Tiffany Yellow, set in the ”Bird on the Rock” brooch, designed by the famous Tiffany jeweler Jean Schlumberger, and used in the poster for Audrey Hepburn’s classic film.
There are also the open heart pendants by designer Elsa Peretti, which have been much copied, or the X kisses by Paloma Picasso, made into earrings, bracelets and pendants.
”Over the years, Tiffany’s has chosen its designers for the strength of their message,” said Daniela Mascetti, head of the jewelry department at Sotheby’s auctioneers.
But Tiffany has also given a boost to designers with ”an original and refreshing way of cultivating talent and marketing its products, which helped it to differentiate itself from other firms,” she said.
The exhibition, at the Gilbert Collection in Somerset House in central London, running until November 26, has been grouped into themes such as ”archaeology and the exotic”, ”diamonds and pearls” and ”the stuff that dreams are made on”.
But among the first items on display is a spectacular 13-star US flag brooch made of platinum, gold, rubies, sapphires and diamonds.
”We felt it was very important to have the American flag right at the beginning of the exhibition,” said Clare Phillips, the curator of Bejeweled and staff member of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
”It shows how America — and Tiffany’s itself — progressed from depending on imports to having a thriving luxury industry of its own.”
Although Tiffany now has four London shops, the British capital might seem a curious venue for the most comprehensive exhibition by a company so linked with the United States and New York.
The idea came from Lord Rothschild, a former trustee of the Gilbert Collection, who felt that ”because Tiffany’s was almost unknown in the United Kingdom, it might be fascinating to organise something here,” said Timothy Stevens, director of the Gilbert Collection.
”Although Tiffany has always been much admired in the UK for glass, and to a lesser extent, metal work, until about 18 months ago, not even the Victoria and Albert Museum had any Tiffany jewelry. So we saw this as an opportunity.”
Many of the pieces on display show an exacting attention to detail. Exquisite jewelled orchids and insects — botanically and entomologically correct — seem to hover and vibrate.
But there are also many whimsical pieces.
”In the 1960’s, for example — the era of flower power, and the rejection of the status quo — wearing expensive jewelry as a status symbol was politically incorrect. So Donald Claflin designed fancy dragons and funny frogs which made fun of jewels, so people kept buying,” said Mascetti.
Older Tiffany pieces continue to command high prices at auctions, due to their rarity.
”We recently sold a beautiful early Tiffany necklace, which was probably slightly underestimated at £5 000-£6 000, for £30 000 ($55 350),” said Mascetti.
”In such cases, the price does not reflect the intrinsic value of the stones, it is a piece of art.”
Tiffany’s started out in 1837 as a fancy goods store on Broadway catering to both ends of the market. It still does business from its Fifth Avenue and 57th Street flagship stores, and its many outlets around the world.
A canny businessman as well as a designer, the company’s founder Charles Lewis Tiffany increased his range by buying existing businesses and launched a mail order business in 1945.
Thus the exhibition also tracks the history of the United States’ rise as a nation of entrepreneurs and industrialists.
”Tiffany’s has always managed to offer something for every purse, but also to develop a mystique,” said Stevens.
”Where else could you have bought anything from a 50c souvenir piece of the original trans-Atlantic cable, to the French crown jewels, in one shop?” – AFP
