Early design sketches.Clockwise from top left:
Tiffany & Co. gold ring set
with 20.2-carat tanzanite;
gold ring set with South Sea
pearl and diamonds; platinum
ring set with chrysocolla,
sapphires and diamonds;
South Sea pearl necklace;
the platinum “Diving board”
ring set with diamonds and
sapphires; gold bracelet set
with spessartites, tsavorites,
sapphires and diamonds.Bracelets with rose-cut
diamonds echo Japanese
designs from the archives.fashion collection, Tiffany T, and dreamt
of diving into water, into oceans and
swimming pools, and of the movement of
the sea. “It was fun to do something about
nature,” she explains on the theme for the
Blue Book, the Art of the Sea. The
collection also references the Tiffany & Co.
Foundation, the jeweller’s philanthropic
endeavour focused on environmental
issues. “I wanted to do something that was
linked to it without doing it in a heavy-
handed way, because we’re very quiet about
the work we do in the foundation.”
It’s a luxury of hushed tones; a more
quiet, personal take. “There’s a certain
elegance, a chicness instead of casualness
that’s not about wearing the biggest stone
in the room, but about just wearing
a fabulous piece of jewellery,” says
Amfitheatrof, who trained as a jeweller
and silversmith and honed her skills
working with Chanel, Alessi and Marni.
“I wanted to approach this with more of
a different energy about it,” she says about
what first appears to be a traditional wreath
necklace. “The top row is made of pear-
shaped diamonds that go in one direction,
and the bottom row is marquise diamonds
in the opposite direction, so it creates this
beautiful negative space.”
The collection is dotted with pieces that
have secret gemstones or designs. Some
gemstones are set in such a way that only
the wearer is able to see them. One bracelet
features t wo layers of jewels that mimic the
underwater experience. “The top is like
a trellis work of coral with little orange,
pink and green fish on top,” says
Amfitheatrof. “Then here is where you dive
into the sea and swim down to the coral
reefs and see this amazing life underneath
- the aquamarines give it a crazy sparkle.”
There are the gob-smackingly large pieces
of course, with carats of record-breaking
weight, but there is a subtlety carried
throughout. Melvyn Kirtley, Tiffany &
Co.’s chief gemologist, who worked in
sourcing the collection’s gemstones, is still
marvelling at a ring that showcases
a 21.66-carat chrysocolla stone surrounded
by undulating waves of blue sapphires. “It’s
got a lovely translucency, the colour of the
Caribbean ocean. It really is special to find
it and work it into a beautiful ring,” he says.
“To find a gemstone like this, in this size, in
this quality is very, very rare.” Tiffany &
Co. is always on the hunt for rare gemstones,
which proved an interesting process for
Amfitheatrof. “It’s a very unusual,
competitive, strange and wonderful world,
the world of diamonds at this level.”
Bringing a rich understanding of the
fashion and art worlds has deepened the
water theme of the Blue Book collection.
“There’s an elegance and a glamour where
it’s quite couture, and more linked to
fashion,” she says. There are earrings that
snake up the ear for a “younger, cooler”
look, and cuffs to be worn hanging over
the wrists in the shape of curlicue waves.
Amfitheatrof also looked beyond the
worlds of fine jewellery to art, like David
Hockney paintings. “Especially his
swimming pool series,” she says, picking
up one of the rings and pointing out that
the concentric blue stones are the water
ripples, and a single row of baguette
diamonds represent the diving board.
“I call it the ‘diving board’ design, which is
not the most sexy, but there’s a movement
to it.” It’s reminiscent of 70s geometric
jewellery but with the fine structure
expected of designs of today; and the slight
asymmetry gives it the look-twice effect.
“I always say the jewellery [here] is not
for the perfectly beautiful woman,” says
Amfitheatrof. “It’s more for a woman that
has some character.” ■Francesca AmfitheatrofA platinum and diamond
necklace inspired by an
archival wave chain.70 – MAY 2015
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