Style NOV (05.11.16)

16 Style | report
5th Avenue façade
Julia nobis
introducing
Tiffany
With Tiffany & Co. now open in Auckland, Victoria Tait
provides an overview of this incredible brand’s history and
speaks with Glen Schlehuber, vice president and managing
director of Tiffany & Co. Oceania, about what we can
expect to see in New Zealand.
Julia nobis
in 1837, 25-year-old charles Lewis tiffany opened a “stationery and
fancy goods” in new York city with his school friend John B. Young.
The growing business quickly developed a reputation for fine goods,
especially Bohemian glass and porcelain, and began the manufacture of
its own jewellery. Sixteen years on, charles tiffany took full control of
the company, renamed it tiffany & company (1853), and established the
firm’s emphasis on jewellery.
With natural talent, charles tiffany lead the company through the
next 60 years of undeniable success. Tiffany was first recognised at the
1867 Paris World’s Fair, at which the company was awarded the grand
prize for silver craftsmanship; a first for an American design house.
In 1878, Tiffany acquired one of the world’s largest and finest yellow
diamonds. the diamond was cut from 287.42 carats to 128.54 carats
with 82 facets, which gave the stone its legendary fire and brilliance.
named the tiffany diamond, the stone became an exemplar of tiffany
craftsmanship.
today and throughout history, tiffany & co has attracted the most
prominent members of society from the Vanderbilts and Whitneys
to Jacqueline Kennedy onassis and Elizabeth taylor. our modern-day
screen stars, such as cate Blanchett, Kate Hudson and Jessica Biel, have
been all seen adorned in tiffany diamonds.
in 1886, tiffany introduced the engagement ring as we know it today.
this famous ring was named the tiffany Setting. it was so popular even a
young Franklin Roosevelt purchased a Tiffany engagement ring in 1904.
With the death of Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1902, his son Louis
Comfort Tiffany – a highly skilled artisan – became Tiffany’s first director
of design and set up the Tiffany Artistic Jewellery department in the Fifth
Avenue store.
Glen Schlehuber, vice president and managing director of Tiffany’s
oceania, gives us the inside word on all things tiffany today.