It has only happened five times. When founder Charles Lewis Tiffany acquired a stunning rough yellow diamond in 1887, he had his gemologist George Kunz oversee its cutting. They cut it into a 128.54 modified cushion shape and named it the Tiffany diamond.
The exquisite diamond was set in only five pieces of jewellery.
Two of the five times, they placed the Tiffany diamond in jewelry by Jean Schlumberger. The fifth setting they recently unveiled is a tribute to the designer. Also a salute to Tiffany's newly renovated Fifth Avenue location and its legacy of selling diamonds.
Imagining how he would set the Tiffany diamond was one of the first things French designer Jean Schlumberger did when he started his career at the American jeweler in 1956.
Vogue covered his idea for a “Wardrobe of Settings”. Along with a photo of Irving Penn's unmounted Tiffany diamond.
The report said this. “Jean Schlumberger, the brilliant young jewelry designer for Tiffany's, studied it enthusiastically for months. Finally he had the idea of designing a “case” of three settings in which the large canary diamond could be worn interchangeably.” None of the jewelry was manufactured at that time.
In 1961 Schlumberger's dream of setting the Tiffany diamond became a reality. When the 128-carat stone was mounted on his Ribbon Rosette necklace. The centerpiece of the jewel is featured in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.
It is one of the original pins the designer designed for his “Wardrobe of Settings”.
When Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard enter the Fifth Avenue flagship, she says spontaneously. “I don't give a damn about jewelry except diamonds,” she looks down at a display case and adds, “like this!” The “this” she mentions is the Tiffany diamond in the Schlumberger necklace. Hepburn did not wear the jewelry in the film, but she did pose with the piece for publicity photos.
The Tiffany diamond was set in the Bird on a Rock brooch design for Jean Schlumberger's 1995 retrospective exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Museé des Art Décoratifs in Paris, eight years after the designer's death.
The fantastic little cockatoo perched on the corner of the big stone proved so popular. Tiffany kept the Bird on a Rock for many years to the delight of visitors to the Fifth Avenue store on the main floor.
Now, the Tiffany diamond has been set in a piece of jewellery inspired by Schlumberger's Bird on a Rock. In honor of Tiffany's glorious renovation in New York City, which they've named The Landmark.
A flock of five Schlumberger-type cockatoos, which have become something of an unofficial mascot at Tiffany's, fly around the yellow diamond, giving motion to the gem.
It has taken 1,384 hours to create the design, 407 hours to set it up and 190 hours to polish it. In total, 2,000 hours to develop the jewelry.
“Thirty years ago, we placed the diamond in Bird on a Rock for the Jean Schlumberger retrospective in Paris.” As Nathalie Verdeille, Chief Artistic Officer, Jewelry & High Jewelry at Tiffany, who created the new design, explains. “So today, the Tiffany diamond and Bird on a Rock are back in a new love story full of freedom and joie de vivre.”.
Also another rare event in the history of the diamond is its appearance in the famous Tiffany's windows in New York.
In 1955, Tiffany's famous Display Manager and Artistic Director, Gene Moore, placed the diamond in the hands of a sculpted angel made of gold wire in his holiday display. But the glow of the stone is said to have shone so brightly. So much so that passersby on the opposite side of Fifth Avenue could see it.
But for the opening of The Landmark, Christopher Young, art director, vice president for global creative visual merchandising, designed a special display for the new Tiffany Diamond jewelry showcase.
The dynamic display had moving shattered glass behind a kind of crystal ball.
It was indeed magical, captivating and totally unforgettable. For everyone who had the opportunity to see it in display 1 at The Landmark during the opening.
So now the Tiffany diamond in its new environment is in its permanent home. That is on the back wall of the main floor of The Landmark. Also the birds in the jewel are depicted in the image of a video installation. This clads the interior with a pair of Schlumberger cockatoos literally flying around the Manhattan skyline.
In the corresponding case on the back wall there is also the medallion of Medusa. Louis Comfort Tiffany designed this masterpiece in the early years of the 20th century. Together the two pieces prove that Tiffany's soaring creativity has been consistent for over 100 years.
Source: theadventurine.com
