A grandiose exhibition of the legendary jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. opened at the Fosun Foundation Shanghai on September 23. "Vision and virtuosity". The exhibition is dedicated to the most important masterpieces of the jewelry house and is conceived as a deep immersion into the world of the brand, a kind of journey through the epochs and branded cultural codes.
The scope of the exhibition is impressive: more than 300 exhibits covering almost 180 years of the company's history are displayed here.
The exposition is designed so that every viewer can get a special experience of the Tiffany heritage that goes beyond a simple historical retrospective. The exhibition takes visitors to an imaginary world where you can find all the major objects from Tiffany's archives, and multi-level installations accentuate the points that correspond to the most important and fundamental moments of the brand's existence.
The thematic journey is divided into six chapters, each with its own mood and context. As Richard Moore, Vice President of Visual Merchandising at Tiffany & Co., tells us, the selection of exhibits was guided by specific criteria that made it easier to choose from thousands of iconic items. They evaluated what was the best of the best, what could only be done uniquely in Tiffany, which stones were the most unusual or rare, which were the first of their kind and changed the history of jewelry design. Tiffany managed to collect a grandiose ensemble of rare jewelry, show innovative cuts and frames, a lot of historically important things, such as jewelry of royalty, and vivid examples of jewelry art deco. In fact, you can see the main treasures of Tiffany in the "Fosun" fund.
The first chapter, "Blue is the Color of Dreams", shows the significance of Tiffany Blue's trademark shade and its versatility. The theme of color echoes the iconic gems of Montana sapphires and tanzanites (it was Tiffany & Co. that discovered this purple-blue stone in 1968). Each exhibit in this section is presented in its own, separate spaces, which repeat the famous windows of the flagship boutique of the brand on Fifth Avenue in New York. Some of the most impressive works are the late 19th century dragonfly brooch with sapphire cabochon and diamond wings, which spurt on as if they were real, and the 47-carat gold and platinum brooch with tanzanite, created for Tiffany by designer Donald Claflin in 1968, which became part of the collection where this unique stone was presented for the first time in jewelry history.
The head of Tiffany World is one large-scale installation that serves as visual evidence of how the brand has contributed to the history of popular culture, leaving its mark on film, television, music and literature. Here you can see one of the first copies of the blue box of Tiffany Blue Box, dated the end of the 1870s, the stages of construction of the flagship store on Fifth Avenue, photos of influential people in the jewelry of Tiffany, in particular Elizabeth Taylor with a brooch Fleur de mer, created by Jean Schlumberger, and other key moments that made Tiffany a synonym of celebration and joy.
The "Blue Book of Tiffany" section will provide an opportunity to appreciate the depth of innovation and artistic skill that stand behind the high jewelry collections of the brand. All the catalogues of the Blue Book, the famous Blue Book, are presented in this hall - from the first one used by customers in the U.S. for mail order in 1845, to the modern editions showing the outstanding works of Jean Schlumberger (necklace of the famous secular lady Carroll Petrie Hedges and Row 1961 from platinum), gold, diamonds, rubellites, turquoise and tourmalines), Elsa Peretti (a necklace set with diamonds on a silk cord), Paloma Picasso (a necklace made of gold and set with diamonds and colored gems weighing 416 carats in total) and many others. This section illustrates the evolution of Tiffany's design and technical expertise over nearly two centuries, including jewelry from the Blue Book collections of current creative director Reed Krakoff.
Tiffany has always been characterised by the creation of jewellery by which people express their feelings. It is in the Tiffany Love section that all the most famous engagement rings are shown, including Tiffany Setting, which is copied by many modern jewelry brands, and a brand new model - Tiffany True.
A separate chapter of the exhibition is quite expectedly dedicated to "Breakfast at Tiffany's", because no other film has played such a significant role in the consolidation of the status of Tiffany in pop culture. This part of the precious journey takes place behind the scenes of the legendary film, among the esponades there is an original script with notes by Audrey Hepburn, shots from the shooting of Fifth Avenue, as well as notes for the song Moon River, written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. What is interesting, which later became an absolute hit scene with the song performed by Audrey Hepburn was originally cut out of the picture, but the actress insisted that it should be left. We can say that "Oscar" for the best music and song for the movie Mercer and Mancini got it thanks to the persistence of Hepburn.
The final part of the exhibition, "Diamonds: the miracle of nature", reveals the world of the rarest and most important diamonds of Tiffany. It is here that the main star was placed - the Tiffany Diamond stone, bought in 1878 by Charles Lewis Tiffany himself, a yellow diamond with 82 facets of shade fancy yellow weighing 128.54 carats. It is the culmination of the entire exhibition and is undoubtedly one of the main gems in the world, it remains a source of inspiration and a starting point for the brand's jewelry collections for many years to come. By the way, only three of us, Audrey Hepburn for the Breakfast at Tiffany's and Lady Gaga for this year's Oscar ceremony, were honored to be released in jewelry with Tiffany Diamond in a century and a half. For the rest of the year, the precious totem is either on display at the main boutique in New York or on tour around the world with temporary Tiffany exhibitions.
The exhibition "Vision and Virtuosity" will last until November 10, and all the proceeds from the sale of tickets will be used for charitable programs of the "Fosun" Foundation.