Describing some of the over-the-top creations executed for Tiffany & Co.’s latest Blue Book collection, including the exquisite Tiffany Blue Book Peacock Necklace, Victoria Reynolds, the company’s chief gemologist, tells Robb Report that over the span of her 37-year career at the house, she has never seen pieces created with such a high level of ingenuity and technical prowess. “The calibre of craftsmanship in this collection is better than anybody out there—anybody,” she says. “And I’m not the type of person that throws that stuff around lightly. But this is the finest collection of high jewellery that exists right now.”
It’s a bold bit of bragging in a largely well-mannered industry, but the workmanship and showstopping glamour of the Jean Schlumberger tribute pieces—a major focus of the recent collection—make the statement hard to refute. Among these, the Tiffany Blue Book Peacock Necklace stands out, embodying Schlumberger’s signature attributes but on an even grander technical scale than the late jeweller could have achieved in his era. The piece is so complex it took two years to create—so long that it ultimately missed the big reveal alongside the rest of the collection in Beverly Hills last April. It finally made its debut with clients in September and is being seen publicly for the first time here.
The Peacock is a prime example of how creative director Nathalie Verdeille has taken Schlumberger’s aesthetic and pumped it up to jaw-dropping proportions, accentuating the visual drama through challenging craftsmanship. “I would say this is one of the more complicated necklaces we’ve done, and it was primarily because of the specificity of those tourmalines and making sure that the colour was just right and the cut was just right,” Reynolds says.
No stone was left unturned. In fact, many of the stones were painstakingly cut to fit each setting. Likewise, the 3-D model meant to guide the jewellers in the creation was tweaked frequently to achieve architectural perfection. “It’s very much like haute couture,” says Reynolds, who adds that even after the necklace’s sale, jewellers will adjust it to ensure the feathers lie just so on the wearer’s collarbone. “The beauty of this piece is that it really is custom-fit to the client once it’s sold.”
3-D Printing
Custom Fitting
Baguette Cuts
Final Casting
Plume Setting
Collar Feathering
Peacock Eyes
