In 1845 Charles Tiffany introduced the Blue Book, a selection of the American jeweler’s finest offerings and the country’s very first mail-order catalog. The Blue Book subsequently became famous as an annual showcase of the firm’s rarest gemstones and most extraordinary, limited-edition designs. In 2013 Tiffany turned to its extensive archives for the inspiration of The Great Gatsby Collection, a creative collaboration between the jeweler and filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to celebrate their adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic.
The Gatsby Collection jewels are based on pieces made by Tiffany in the 1920s, when they were known as one of the leading arbiters of the new Art Deco style. The jewelry captured the optimistic spirit of the time and featured an extravagant blend of bold, geometric forms and sleek lines designed to accent the streamlined clothing of the most stylish women of the day. With her bobbed hair, bare arms, dressed in sparkling diamonds and cascading ropes of pearls, the classic flapper represented a distinctly modern and independent-minded American aesthetic.
This glamorous cocktail ring, one of only two produced, centers on a substantial 8-carat cushion-cut black onyx surrounded by a halo of bezel-set diamonds that call to mind bubbles dancing in champagne. The ring is seen throughout the film on Jordan Baker, Fitzgerald’s representation of the era’s “new” woman – chic and athletic, carefree and self-sufficient.
The Jazz Age was a time of exuberant creativity and original thought. Its cultural contributions and iconic designs continue to resonate today. It seems only fitting that this quintessential American jewelry house should revisit their own storied legacy to craft the jewels for Fitzgerald’s masterwork of American fiction as he, himself, was a Tiffany customer at the time.
- Size 5-3/4
- 1 8-carat cushion-cut black onyx
- Approximately 1.10 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds
- Platinum
