Gold, diamonds & all things pretty
FROM THEIR ICONIC GLITTERING DIAMONDS TO THEIR SLICK NEW CITY HARDWEAR COLLECTION, TIFFANY & CO KNOWS THE WAY TO OUR HEARTS. AND AN INVITE TO THEIR STAR-STUDDED BLUE BOOK PARTY IS THE CHERRY ON THE CAKE
Kim Parker is totally star-struck by Tiffany’s glittering Blue Book party
If I told you the most glamorous, Gatsbyesque party I’d ever attended took place inside a brick warehouse in Brooklyn, you’d be forgiven for not believing me.
But as I arrived for Tiffany’s Blue Book gala in New York recently – a glittering, diamond-encrusted affair thrown each year to celebrate the launch of its precious ‘Blue Book’ jewellery collection –
I spotted supermodel Doutzen Kroes, gorgeous in emerald-green Céline, on a golden carousel by the edge of the East River. There was Claire Danes waving down a tray of champagne flutes and chatting with fellow actress Reese Witherspoon. At the entrance to the warehouse – transformed into an opulent ballroom for this year’s Blue Book collection theme, ‘The Art of the Wild’ – Oscar nominee Ruth Negga (wearing a Tiffany diamond necklace reportedly worth more than $2 million) posed for photographs beside The Girl On The Train actress Haley Bennett. Inside, talking to Audrey Hepburn’s luminous granddaughter Emma Ferrer, was Dominic West, the rakishly handsome star of The Affair, who turned out to be seated next to me at dinner. Reader, I felt like Charlie Bucket in Wonkaland.
Other highlights of the dazzling evening included chatting to West about his latest film project in South Africa, his plans to open a hotel in Ireland and how much I loved the rolling Welsh accent that he affected to play Richard Burton in 2013’s Burton And Taylor (he charmingly obliged me with a little rendition). I hitched up my long silk Vilshenko gown (a dream dress found in Fenwick) for my own turn on the carousel à la Doutzen. But mostly I tried not to stare as Tiffany’s VIP clients met and mingled with A-listers, all dripping with diamonds. As the inimitable Truman Capote once put it, ‘dizzy with excitement is no mere phrase!’
CHAMPAGNE AND PHOTO OPPS ASIDE, the gala is ultimately a celebrity-studded ‘thank you’ party for Tiffany’s most valuable clients, who fly to New York from all over the world each year to invest in what chief gemologist Melvyn Kirtley calls “the absolute pinnacle of what we produce. Each piece from the Blue Book takes months to create, using the most special gems available”. But, adds John Loring, Tiffany’s design director emeritus, “[founder] Charles Lewis Tiffany also understood that beautiful jewellery shouldn’t just be for the super rich. In 1889, for example, when everyone else was making jewelled flowers, he offered enamel ones that were just as colourful but much more affordable. It’s been a big part of our company’s success.”
Indeed, the need to stay relevant and also modern has been key to Tiffany’s 180-year-old success story. Case in point: every floor of its granite and marble flagship on Fifth Avenue (where Audrey Hepburn once gazed through the windows in Breakfast At Tiffany’s) is buzzing with native New Yorkers and tourists alike. Here, there may be a private salon where Liz Taylor and Jackie Kennedy purchased precious jewellery by Jean Schlumberger, but there are also cases of shimmering semiprecious pieces (Tiffany was the first to introduce more accessible gems like tanzanite, tsavorite and cultured pearls into fine jewellery), chunky gold chains and pairs of cool, wrecking ball-like earrings. The latter are part of Tiffany’s new City Hardwear collection (see it on the previous page), an all-gold-and-silver ‘ready to wear’ offering inspired by New York’s urban cityscape, with Lady Gaga as its ambassador. What’s more relevant in 2017 than tapping a celebrity with 24.7 million Instagram followers for your latest ad campaign?
It’s a clever move by Tiffany’s outgoing design director, Francesca Amfitheatrof, who was also responsible for this year’s Blue Book collection (which, incidentally, sold out in three days).
She is succeeded by Reed Krakoff, the man known for transforming Coach from a $500 million accessories label into a $4 billion mega brand, so someone perfectly placed to create luxury goods for a wide audience and keep the brand’s story relevant to everyone from baby boomers to millennials. If his handiwork turns out to be half as exciting, or successful, as things I’ve seen in New York, I’m going to have to start scouting for a new frock for next year’s ball. I only hope Mr West saves me a seat.