Elsa Peretti was one of the jewellery industry’s most prolific figures and worked up until her death last week at age 80. She died in her sleep at home in the small village of Sant Martí Vell, outside Barcelona, Spain.In October, Tiffany & Co collaborated with the designer for nine one-of-a-kind high jewellery creations that were based on archival sketches.
The collection was unveiled to celebrate 45 years since Peretti began working with Tiffany & Co, as well as 50 years since the launch of her iconic Bone cuff, which was most recently worn by Gil Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).
The cuff, which retails at US$16,000 in yellow gold, has also been worn by Angelina Jolie, Margot Robbie and Naomi Watts, among others.
(Related: A Peek Into the Tiffany Jewel Box High Jewellery Collection)
Peretti would go on to create dozens of Tiffany & Co's most popular designs, dreaming up such seminal items as the Bottle Pendant, inspired by Italian girls who carried flowers in small vases around their necks and the fluid Open Heart pendant. She completed over 30 collections for the brand and, over time, her pieces came to account for about 10% of Tiffany & Co’s sales.
Born in Florence, Peretti spent the early-1960s modelling in Spain before moving to New York where she began making jewellery for ready-to-wear designers like Giorgio di Sant' Angelo and Halston. In 1975, she famously posed in a Playboy Bunny outfit for Helmut Newton on Halloween.
Despite her well-to-do upbringing and high-flying connections, Peretti spent most of her life living in the secluded Catalan village of Sant Martí Vell in Spain.
“The day Elsa Peretti became a part of Tiffany & Co was the day we entered a new era in our history of design innovation,” describes Michael J. Kowalski, former chairman and CEO of the jewellery house.
