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Why Tiffany & Co is the high jewellery brand to watch now

With new leadership and new events, the American jeweller is primed to take over the high jewellery market.

Why Tiffany & Co is the high jewellery brand to watch now

From left: Guadeloupe Fruit brooch and Dua Lipa wearing the 100-carat Legendary diamond at the 2023 Met Gala. (Photos: Tiffany & Co.)

French luxury conglomerate LVMH has been aggressively acquiring luxury’s most desirable names on an almost annual basis since it pocketed Bvlgari in 2011, with Tiffany & Co joining the family in 2020. And the acquisition seems to be beneficial for all — the group reported record sales from the jeweller in 2022 thanks to the success of the Tiffany Lock collection. But it is Tiffany’s high jewellery revenue that doubled within the last year. The American jeweller, known for extraordinary white diamonds and being the first global jeweller to offer total diamond traceability, is one of the most exciting brands to follow in the high jewellery space, and here’s why.

IT ACQUIRED ONE OF THE RAREST COLLECTIONS OF PINK DIAMONDS IN THE WORLD

Argyle pink diamonds. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

The Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia was the fourth biggest diamond-producing mine in the world by volume, but its biggest claim to fame was that it produced over 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds. Now that it’s closed, having finally exhausted its supply between 1983 and 2020, pink diamonds are about to get a whole lot rarer.

Which is why it’s incredible how Tiffany & Co was offered a bespoke curation of one of the last parcels of pink diamonds from the mine in 2022. The Argyle Pink Diamonds: The Tiffany Collection totalled 35 stones, with three of them over 1 carat. The remaining 32 ranged from 0.3 carats to 0.7 carats. These sizes may seem paltry but are significant for pink diamonds.

“You would never be able to find a five-carat Argyle. Mother Nature just wouldn’t present it,” explained Victoria Reynolds, chief gemologist at Tiffany & Co. “To have one about a carat is incredibly rare, and to have them over one-and-a-half carats is super rare. There is maybe only a handful in the world over two carats.”

“To have one about a carat [of Argyle pink diamond] is incredibly rare, and to have them over one-and-a-half carats is super rare. There is maybe only a handful in the world over two carats,” according to Tiffany & Co's chief gemologist Victoria Reynolds. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

Most coloured diamonds get their hues from trace elements that interact with their carbon atoms during their formation. Nitrogen atoms will give you yellow or brown diamonds, while boron gives you blue ones, for example. Pink diamonds are a miraculous exception, as they gain their colour from intense heat and pressure that cause their crystal lattices to deform. Thanks to the displaced carbon atoms, these diamonds absorb green light and reflect it back to us as pink. It is these very same conditions that stop pink diamonds from getting very large.

The collection was presented to select clients at global Tiffany High Jewellery events this spring and was finally sold to a single collector for an undisclosed (but no doubt immoderate) price. The house is currently working on designs to turn the diamonds into three pieces of jewellery.

While it’s unfortunate that we may never see the final creations, it speaks to Tiffany’s reputation and expertise for having obtained the stones in the first place. This is in fact the first time that Rio Tinto, the mining group that operated the Argyle mine, has named a collection after a jewellery partner. So we’re expecting more great, glittering surprises in the future.

A WOMAN IS FINALLY LEADING THE GEM TEAM

The jewellery industry has historically been a male-dominated one, which is ironic considering how the end consumers are usually female. But the technical skill, manual dexterity, and science that goes on in the background of bejewelled creations were once thought to be in the purview of men.

Victoria Reynolds. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

In 2021, Tiffany appointed Victoria Reynolds as its first female chief gemologist in its 183-year history. Having worked at the company for over 30 years, Reynolds’ experience and dedication to sourcing the absolute best stones made her the obvious choice for the role. “You have to be passionate about this job because it’s not a nine-to-five. Being inquisitive also really helps. There are still plenty of things I don’t know, and that’s fine with me, because the fact that I get to learn every day is an extraordinary gift,” she said. “You also have to have a good eye for colour, and to be able to see and recognise beauty.” Reynolds was a diamond grader for Tiffany for four years and still operates as Vice President of High Jewellery.

Jimin attends the Tiffany & Co. Fifth Avenue flagship store grand re-opening event on Thursday, April 27, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Reynolds continues to work closely with chief artistic officer Nathalie Verdeille, who gives Reynold’s team a colour palette and a mood board to use as a reference for upcoming collections. “It’s a really collaborative process because stones are coming in all day, every day, and this is not a one-woman job. Dozens of gemologists support this effort and after we curate the stones for the collections, the design team will take over.”

According to Reynolds, one high jewellery collection can take several years and thousands of hours to complete, from the ideation to the final launch. But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the epochs it took for the stones to form and come to the surface — a fact that Reynolds never fails to marvel over.

“If you look at a hydrangea, it’s got a beautiful pink colour but it won’t last forever. You see it, appreciate it, and try to remember it. But gemstones are a time capsule. They take millions of years to form and you will have that colour and beauty for the rest of your life,” she said. “I think that’s why a gemstone brings people so much joy. It can be passed on because it is tangible, beautiful, and eternal.”

EXPECT MORE HIGH JEWELLERY EVENTS

Tiffany & Co. created a necklace featuring a diamond pendant of over 100 carats, specially for Dua Lipa for Met Gala 2023. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

Coloured diamonds and gemstones have been steadily gaining popularity in recent years, but massive white diamonds of incomparable brilliance will never stop evoking a sense of awe. And Tiffany has two that it’s been showing off around the world: The 80-carat Empire diamond and the new 100-carat Legendary diamond, the latter made its debut around the neck of Dua Lipa at this year’s Met Gala.

Diamonds & Wonders 2023 in Sydney. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

Both diamonds have been travelling with the brand’s new high jewellery event concept, Diamonds & Wonders this year. First held in Park City, Utah, before moving on to Shanghai, Bangkok and Sydney in rapid succession this spring, Diamonds & Wonders also brings with it a selection of the house’s most impeccable high jewellery pieces from past Blue Book collections.

The ware on display at Diamonds & Wonders 2023 in Sydney. (Photo: Tiffany & Co.)

More than just a showcase of the house’s extraordinary pieces, these events are also a chance to watch a master craftsman demonstrate how the brand’s famous Bird on a Rock brooch is painstakingly made by hand, or to interact with Reynolds herself if you want a deeper dive into the stones and designs available for purchase. (We hear the Legendary diamond is still up for grabs.)

ITS MOST WAITLISTED DESIGN IS NOW CUSTOMISABLE

The Bird on a Rock is one of the most iconic designs to come from the late Jean Schlumberger, a French jewellery designer and one of only four jewellers that Tiffany & Co has allowed to sign their work. The whimsical brooch features a diamond-crusted cockatoo perched on a sizeable gemstone that is typically at least 20 carats. The rock can be anything from diamonds to topazes, and in one iteration, was none other than the yellow Tiffany Diamond.

The brooch is seeing something of a resurgence lately, and has even started to grace the lapels of male celebrities like Michael B Jordan, Simu Liu, and Dwayne Wade. Thanks to its explosive popularity, Reynolds reveals that there is a wait list and the chances of seeing one in a a store are fairly slim.

If, however, you make it to an event like Diamonds & Wonders, you will have the option of customising your very own brooch, from the stones set on the bird, the precious metal setting, and, of course, the rock, via an interactive screen set up at the events.

Source: CNA/bt
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