Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu

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.
Late 20th Century Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 20th Century Edwardian Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold
20th Century Art Deco Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1910s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Artisan Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
White Diamond, Multi-gemstone, Diamond, Emerald, Pink Sapphire, Platinum...
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold
Mid-19th Century Art Deco Antique Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Platinum, Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 19th Century Romantic Antique Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Retro Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Early 1800s Victorian Antique Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Silver, Sterling Silver
1920s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Mid-20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold
Early 20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold
Mid-20th Century Retro Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1910s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1950s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1980s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Art Deco Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modernist Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Ruby, 14k Gold
1950s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
15k Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Victorian Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Silver
1920s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Diamond, 18k Gold, Silver
1970s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
1920s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Agate, Diamond, Enamel
Late 20th Century Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Post-War Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Art Deco Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Ruby, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold
1950s Retro Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
18k Gold
1990s Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1990s Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Classical Greek Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Retro Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century Aesthetic Movement Antique Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1930s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 1900s Edwardian Antique Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
1920s Art Deco Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 20th Century Art Deco Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Agate, Sterling Silver
1940s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Ruby, Gold, Sterling Silver
20th Century Contemporary Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
18k Gold
20th Century Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver
1950s Vintage Tiffany & Co. Objets d'Art and Vertu
Sterling Silver