The Tiffany Blue Book Now Features Men's High Jewelry - TownandCountrymag.com
There is an amethyst—a real one—on the cover. J.P. Morgan’s Catalogue of the Collection of Jewels and Precious Works of Art is a bound volume swathed in shagreen and held together tight by two handcarved brass fasteners. Inside are some 50 meticulously gilded lithographs of such items as a “pendant jewel of wrought gold enamelled,” a “fine onyx rosary with enamel work inside the larger beads,” and a “morse of wrought gold open work with precious stones.”
J.P. Morgan, captain of industry, robber baron, the power behind General Electric and U.S. Steel, was also a jewelry guy—one of the most important collectors, in fact, of his era. Morgan achieved this distinction with the help of George Frederick Kunz, head mineralogist at Tiffany & Co. It was Kunz who advised Morgan, a client of the company, on his jewelry acquisitions, beginning in the 1880s.
The two presented their treasures at the Paris World’s Fairs in 1889 and 1900, and Kunz was instrumental in having them eventually donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History on Morgan’s death in 1913. (If your mind has now jumped to morganite, the peachy pink beryl so christened by Kunz at Tiffany in 1911, yes—it’s named after J.P. Morgan.)
Which would mean that by 1910, the year Morgan’s lavish catalog was published (20 special copies were printed on parchment, five with amethysts and shagreen covers, for his inner circle; 150 more were made on paper, for the public), Morgan would have surely seen a Tiffany Blue Book.
There is no hard evidence that Morgan’s volume of jewelry, now displayed in the recreation of his study at the Morgan Library in New York, was inspired by Tiffany’s tradition, begun in 1845, of publishing an annual compendium of its most prized pieces, but the instinct behind these keepsake publications showcases a shared mission: to commemorate jewels not just as sparkly items for adornment but as decorative works of art. These volumes are also a testament to the universal allure of a diamond flower lapel pin.
Men and jewelry, it seems, go way back. And no doubt Morgan—and the Maharaja of Patiala, and Henry VIII, and Thanos (in Marvel’s Avengers), and even King Solomon—would be satisfied to see that, for the first time in the history of the Tiffany Blue Book, men’s high jewelry pieces have been added, in a series of lapel pins and signet rings.
“I saw an opportunity to speak to men who appreciate beauty and design,” says Reed Krakoff, Tiffany & Co.’s chief artistic officer. “For many men it will be the first time they have worn or even considered wearing such a piece. While these pieces are ‘high jewelry,’ it doesn’t mean they need to be worn in a formal way. You could as easily wear one of the brooches with a denim jacket.”
Or a silver thread–streaked Saint Laurent blazer (see: Justin Theroux), a shimmering Michael Kors suit (see: Patrick Vaill), a loosely buttoned Vuitton shirt (see: Miles Chamley-Watson), or a steel-gray velvet Ralph Lauren jacket (see: the late, great John Giorno, in his last portrait).
But back to that amethyst. Morgan clearly thought that fine objects needed to be presented in equally fine packages, and Krakoff has figured out a way to bring that idea home. Each of his men’s high jewelry pieces will be housed in a handcrafted vessel.
“There are beautiful handmade boxes that have been customized to hold each brooch,” Krakoff says. “The dragonfly comes in a sterling silver envelope. The results are designs that transcend jewelry and are truly works of art… Even when you’re not wearing the jewelry, they can be displayed as objects.”
Which is surely what J.P. Morgan would have done: There are no known images of him wearing a piece from his impressive collection— rumor has it he never even buttoned France’s Legion of Honor medal to his lapel after he got back to New York.
Grooming by Kevin Ryan at Art & Commerce. manicure by Julie Kandalec for Chanel Les Vernis at Bryan Bantry Agency. Tailoring by Lars Nord.
