Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Tiffany & Co. is one of the most prominent purveyors of luxury goods in the United States, and has long been an important arbiter of style in the design of diamond engagement rings. A young Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed to his future wife, Eleanor, with a Tiffany ring in 1904. Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Astors and members of the Russian imperial family all wore Tiffany & Co. jewels. And Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis preferred Tiffany china for state dinners at the White House.
Although synonymous with luxury today, the firm started out rather modestly. Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young founded it in Connecticut as a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” in 1837, at a time when European imports still dominated the nascent American luxury market. In 1853, Charles Tiffany — who in 1845 had launched the company’s famed catalog, the Blue Book, and with it, the firm’s signature robin’s-egg blue, which he chose for the cover — shifted the focus to fine jewelry. In 1868, Tiffany & Co. gained international recognition when it became the first U.S. firm to win an award for excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. From then on, it belonged to the pantheon of American luxury brands.
At the start of the Gilded Age, in 1870, Tiffany & Co. opened its flagship store, described as a "palace of jewels" by the New York Times, at 15 Union Square West in Manhattan. Throughout this period, its designs for silver tableware, ceremonial silver, flatware and jewelry were highly sought-after indicators of status and taste. They also won the firm numerous accolades, including the grand prize for silverware at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Among the firm’s glittering creations from this time are masterworks of Art Nouveau jewelry, such as this delicate aquamarine necklace and this lavish plique-à-jour peridot and gold necklace, both circa 1900.
When Charles Lewis Tiffany died, in 1902, his son Louis Comfort Tiffany became the firm’s design director. Under his leadership, the Tiffany silver studio was a de facto design school for apprentice silversmiths, who worked alongside head artisan Edward C. Moore. The firm produced distinctive objects inspired by Japanese art and design, North American plants and flowers, and Native American patterns and crafts, adding aesthetic diversity to Tiffany & Co.’s distinguished repertoire.
Tiffany is also closely associated with diamonds, even lending its name to one particularly rare and exceptional yellow stone. The firm bought the Tiffany diamond in its raw state from the Kimberley mines of South Africa in 1878. Cut to create a 128.54-carat gem with an unprecedented 82 facets, it is one of the most spectacular examples of a yellow diamond in the world. In a broader sense, Tiffany & Co. helped put diamonds on the map in 1886 by introducing the American marketplace to the solitaire diamond design, which is still among the most popular engagement-ring styles. The trademark Tiffany® Setting raises the stone above the band on six prongs, allowing its facets to catch the light. A lovely recent example is this circa-2000 platinum engagement ring. Displaying a different design and aesthetic (but equally chic) is this exquisite diamond and ruby ring from the 1930s.
1910s Edwardian Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Gold, Platinum
1870s Victorian Antique Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver
1930s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
1960s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1960s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Freshwater Pearl, Yellow Gold
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Gold, 14k Gold
1980s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
1970s Contemporary Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 1900s Belle Époque Antique Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Peridot, Gold, 18k Gold, Platinum
1980s Modern Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
1950s Contemporary Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Amethyst, Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
1980s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
1940s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Peridot, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1930s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
Early 2000s Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
1940s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Aquamarine, Ruby, Rose Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Retro Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Moonstone, Sapphire
1970s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Malachite, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Gold
1990s Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Gold, Enamel
1990s Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Gold, Enamel
1980s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Emerald, Tourmaline, Gold, 18k Gold
1930s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
Mid-20th Century Retro Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Onyx, Gold
1990s Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Citrine, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Yellow Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum
1990s Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Platinum
1970s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Malachite, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1880s Victorian Antique Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
2010s Modern Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
1940s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Garnet, Cultured Pearl, Gold, 14k Gold
1980s Contemporary Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Gold, G...
1960s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Emerald, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 1900s Art Nouveau Antique Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Star Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1980s Modern Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Rose Gold
1960s Modern Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Pearl, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
20th Century Artisan Tiffany & Co. Brooches
White Diamond, Multi-gemstone, Diamond, Emerald, Pink Sapphire, Platinum...
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Ruby, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1960s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
1980s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
18k Gold
1940s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, 14k Gold
19th Century Antique Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Jade, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Yellow Gold
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
Mid-20th Century Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Ruby, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1990s Retro Tiffany & Co. Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
