Legacy is an interesting thing. With 187 years of history behind it, the American jeweller Tiffany & Co.— despite more easily imagining and relating it with youth—has oodles of history behind it. It’s a fact that the house is now eager to reclaim and celebrate, as evidenced by its latest project: Tiffany Wonder, an ambitious brand exhibition that recently opened at Tokyo Node in the Japanese capital city.
The exhibition brings together over 500 objects from the brand’s archives to offer a broad sweep of its varied history. There are the jewels, of course, designed by the many talents who have worked for the brand over the decades, and historic artefacts such as the first cash book when Tiffany opened for business.
Amid all this history, I got a chance to speak with Victoria Reynolds, the brand’s present-day chief gemologist. Reynolds has spent 37 years with the jeweller, with roles previously in diamond grading, custom designs, business sales, marketing high jewellery, and since 2020, heading the brand’s diamond and gemstone acquisition.
Reynolds is, from observation, a creature of habit. She wears a jewellery uniform of sorts, and if you look her up you’ll notice the same Jean Schlumberger pieces—she confesses favour for the designer—turning up. Most interestingly, she wears a black jeweller’s loupe on a gold chain. When asked about it, she let on that it was an inherited gift from her predecessor Melvyn Kirtley, the house’s chief gemologist before her.
There is a particular but amorphous quality to a Tiffany & Co. gemstone. Can you describe what that means?
They all have to be the best in class. They have to have exceptional colour, great make and incredible crystal. But when you’re looking at, let’s say, 20 rubies or 10 sapphires, why do you pick one? It’s a bit subjective, right? So, like a great painting—I think a great painting is a good example—it has to have some emotion. A great gemstone, the way I put it, will dance for me. In the case of a diamond, it might be the cut that makes the scintillation of how light comes back to the eye. For coloured gemstones, typically it’s all about colour.
Can you give us an example of a stone that gave you an emotional response?
The Tiffany Diamond is an excellent example. Found in 1877 and cut in 1878, it’s been the brand’s true north for that long. It has a beauty: the yellow is so pure and the cut is magnificent. A regular gemstone in 1878 had 58 cuts, but this was cut with 82 facets because it held the yellow colour in the stone. It’s very optimistic, a pure yellow. It’s like any great thing in nature or anything that’s pure. It brings joy and that’s a once-in-a-lifetime gemstone. Watching people look at the diamond [at the exhibition] was a great example.
You’ve no doubt seen the Tiffany Diamond a lot. Do you ever find yourself bored by it?
No. Never. If I did, I would have to give my job up. If you get bored by the Tiffany Diamond, there’s no hope. I never get tired of looking at it because I find something new in it every time. I probably don’t need a plot (a diagram that charts a gemstone’s characteristics), I know that stone so well at this point. But I think to myself, with all the modern technology we have, how is it that Mr Tiffany and Mr Kunz took a year to study it, cut it and created something so perfect back in 1877? And that has held up and stood the test of time to be one of the greatest diamonds in the world.
Why is now the right time to have this broad look at the history of Tiffany & Co.?
When you have 187 years, sometimes you have to take a step back, right? I think what happened when Mr Arnault and LVMH acquired us was they saw things in us that maybe we’d forgotten. That’s the way I put it.
What do you mean by forgotten?
I don’t think that we didn’t appreciate it. But I don’t think we necessarily looked at it with a new lens. And the new lens is what makes it so interesting because it’s all been there. It’s authentic and part of our history.
You’ve spent 37 years with Tiffany. What was your emotional response seeing this exhibition?
To see the history of the company so beautifully curated in this exhibition is why it is so emotional. Because it stands for love, for beauty and for quality. But ultimately, it’s about love and that is a very emotional thing.
The June ‘Impact’ issue of Vogue Singapore is now available for sale online and at newsstands.
