When you consider the Pantheon of jewellery-design greats, it’s easy to picture Elsa Peretti at the very top, her groundbreaking work setting the stage for those who sat among her and those who have followed. She was a true trailblazer who challenged the notion of what adornment could be, and her designs still sit in that highly coveted but rarely acquired sweet spot; they’re equal parts contemporary, provocative and enduringly resonant.
It’s been 50 years since the Italian-born designer’s legacy was cemented with her debut Tiffany & Co. collection. Even then, admirers could sense that Peretti was an icon in the making: Enthralled customers wrapped around the Fifth Avenue block many times over, and her much-anticipated pieces sold out that very same day. That fanfare has remained constant ever since, with Peretti’s work serving as a style foundation for the fashion set and spurring generations of women who, instead of waiting to be gifted jewellery, have sought out and purchased it for themselves.
As the legendary jewellery house is set to honour half a century of Peretti’s designs, here, we take a look at her rise to greatness, the groundbreaking silhouettes that defined her career and how Tiffany plans to commemorate this momentous milestone here in Canada.