SENSUOUS SIMPLICITY

Elsa Peretti’s own enviable, effortless, unpretentious personal style, the way she dresses and decorates her houses, is perfectly captured in the understated glamour and easy elegance of her jewellery designs.

It is a st yle shown to perfection in Diamonds by the Yard™, pos sibly the most revolutionar y and influential design of Els a’s career, as well as the most enduring and univers ally emulated: a fine gold chain, dotted with one or several diamonds, set in bezel “spectacle” settings, to look like streams of drops of light. Elsa remembers that when she was taken on as a named Tiffany & Co. designer in 1974, she was tempted but shy about working with precious stones. “I’d never done it before. The personality of even a 0.3-carat stone is strong.” She wanted to make diamonds more accessible, more wearable, less about showing off, to design for different budgets. “It was a dream,” recalls Elsa. “To translate an idea is magic.” Inspired by her grandmother’s ring, the diamond set without prongs, and worn, she remembered, all the time, even for gardening, she started with one diamond enclosed in a gold rim, on a slender chain, and gradually added more diamonds, and bigger sizes, up to one carat, on a longer chain until she reached a yard; Diamonds by the Yard, launched by Tiffany & Co. in 1976, has become an all-time modern classic, its concept extended into Pearls by the Yard™ and Color by the Yard, as fresh and relevant today as always. Elsa Peretti’s style, in step with today’s mood of casual opulence, is linked to the tactilit y of her jewels. “Touch is important. I get lots of my inspiration from tactile things. Maybe because I don’t see very well.” Peretti™ Mesh has the touch and feel of silk, fusing jewels, textiles and fashion. On one of her many visits to Jaipur, India in the early 1970s, inspired by the “beautiful atmosphere” of the cit y, she conjured a vision of a gold mesh bra, which she had handcraf ted there, by Jaipur goldsmiths . Back in New York , the bra made a

“The design is full of common sense. Of course I’m slow, I have to crystallise a form, find the essence.” — ELSA PERETTI

dazzlingly provocative appearance on the runway, with the latest collection by Halston, Elsa’s friend and mentor. “I was shocking at the time,” Elsa remembers wistfully. Tiffany was swamped with calls, and Elsa s et about developing her idea for gold and silver mesh jewellery. She collaborated with the late Samuel Beizer, of the F ashion Institute of Technology in New York, who approached the firm Whiting and Davis, manufacturer s of metal mesh handbags . The result was a precious woven shimmering mesh, in silver or gold, cut to size and shape, like fabric, and the first jewel was the s car f necklace, with it s throwaway golden glamour, draped with liquid light. From here evolved the Mesh collections, long earrings, a wrapped and folded cuff bracelet, bib necklaces. “The essential end product of those old, splendid times in Jaipur is a small gold scarf. A tremendous amount of work and research went into this little scarf.” The Sevillana collection exudes a similar spirit of sensual, low-key elegance. Generated by Elsa’s love of Spain, the open hoop is inspired by the gypsies of Andalusia, the energy and exuberance of Flamenco, and the classic gypsy hoop earring. As always Elsa spent a great deal of time ref ining her concept, distilling the passion of song and dance into purity of line, balancing the silhouette with the inner negative space, a vital part of Peretti design. “The design is full of common s ense. Of cour s e I’m slow, I have to cr y stallis e a form, f ind the es s ence.” T he re sult is the perfect, consummate hoop, of generous but streamlined curves, sublime proportions, the pendant, tied onto a long chain or cord, in silver, gold, green or black jade, lapis lazuli, lacquered wood covered or paved with diamonds, for supreme, ef fortles s sophistication, Peretti st yle.