Colour is no small thing. When Charles Lewis Tiffany picked a particular shade of blue in 1845 to print on the cover of his first direct-mail catalogue, how could he have known that it would go on to become one of the world’s most distinctive brand identifiers? This robin’s-egg blue would make its way onto the first Tiffany & Co. box in 1878, become a registered colour trademark in 1998, and officiated in 2001 as a universal standard in the Pantone colour system.
The exact reasons why Tiffany picked this colour are lost to history, but it is often theorised that the founder of the New York jewellery house was influenced by the 19th-century popularity of turquoise, especially among Victorian brides. More pointedly, turquoise is one of very few truly American gemstones and therefore perfectly apt for the jeweller.
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This year, colour comes at last to grace the HardWear by Tiffany collection of jewellery. First introduced in 2017, the line has risen to become one of the house’s leading modern icons. Its industrial-chic look of gauge links, drawn from an archival 1962 chain bracelet, is simultaneously cosmopolitan and romantic, and meant to symbolise the strength of love. The collection has so far shone thanks to the purity of line in gold or with pavé diamonds, but this year Tiffany & Co. is adding radiant turquoise and elegant Akoya pearls to the mix.
There are nine new designs, and Tiffany & Co. has chosen two styles of setting the turquoise and pearls. The first—seen in a 34-inch multi-wear wrap necklace, drop earrings and pendant necklaces—features turquoise beads and Akoya pearls set on the ends of each HardWear link. The sculptural colour accents are capped with polished gold pyramidal domes to complement the collection’s U-shaped link silhouette.
The second approach is more punctuated, with larger turquoise beads set between links or set as drop accents, reminiscent of the collection’s ball-and-chain designs. These feature on a necklace, bracelet and earrings.
In designing these novelties, chief artistic officer of jewellery Nathalie Verdeille tapped two sources of inspiration; the 1950s Pop Art movement and the chromatic vividness of works by Andy Warhol for one; and a 1960s lapis lazuli and pearl necklace worn by Bunny Mellon—famed jewel aficionado, legendary Tiffany client, and muse to Jean Schlumberger. “Creativity begins when colour becomes a language,” Verdeille commented in press notes. “Like in pointillism, each stone becomes a point of colour and light.”
The primacy of colour and light is evident in how Tiffany & Co. has crafted these HardWear jewels with gems of remarkable beauty and calibre. The turquoise beads are sourced from the US and Mexico, and each is carefully chosen for pure, matched colours with no veining. The Akoya pearls, meanwhile, are sourced from Japan and selected for their exceptional multi-dimensional lustre and near-perfect round shapes.
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HardWear small link necklace in yellow gold with turquoise, $30,400
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HardWear small link bracelet in yellow gold with turquoise, $17,200
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HardWear small link earrings in yellow gold with turquoise, $7,400
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HardWear medium link earrings in yellow gold with turquoise, $4,750
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HardWear medium link earrings in yellow gold with Akoya pearls, $4,750
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HardWear medium link drop earrings in yellow gold with turquoise and Akoya pearls, $19,200
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HardWear double medium link pendant in yellow gold with turquoise, $3,850
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HardWear double medium link pendant in yellow gold with Akoya pearls, $3,850
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