DAYS OF gold
A NEW EXHIBITION AT THE SAATCHI GALLERY SHOWS HOW TIFFANY & CO HAS BEEN ON THE FRONT LINE OF THE ARTS OVER THE LAST CENTURY
GRACE JONES TABLE-HOPPING at a party wearing a silver Bone Cuff; Audrey Hepburn armed with a pastry in a Givenchy gown in Breakfast at Tiffany’s; the Tiffany diamond draped across Beyoncé’s back for the About Love campaign; Hailey Bieber on the 2021 Met Gala red carpet in a Blue Book Collection necklace. These are just a few of the iconic cultural moments on display at Tiffany & Co’s Vision & Virtuosity exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery this month.
With over 400 pieces on show (150 of them visible to the public for the first time), the exhibition considers how Tiffany & Co has been ingrained in pop culture for over a century, influencing everything from film and music to art and even literature. The displays are split into chapters exploring Tiffany’s history, including its founder’s legacy, former designers, the Blue Book high-jewellery collections and its famous stones.
Highlights involve works by the women who pioneered the brand’s designs, including its chief gemologist Victoria Reynolds, Paloma Picasso – responsible for Tiffany’s avant-garde, street art-inspired collection Paloma’s Graffiti – and Elsa Peretti, who designed the aforementioned Bone Cuff, later worn in the opening scene of the 2008 Sex and the City film and by Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman.
‘Elsa has been one of our most beloved and important collaborators for nearly 50 years,’ says Anthony Ledru, CEO of Tiffany & Co, of the designer who died last year. ‘Her designs are as modern today as ever. This is a true testament to her artistic vision and genius.’
‘Vision & Virtuosity’ runs from 10 June to 19 August at the Saatchi Gallery. A book by Vivienne Becker with a foreword by André Leon Talley will be released to coincide with the exhibition