By Alison McGill
With the announcement of Beyonce and Jay Z as new Tiffany & Co. ambassadors, the celebrated jeweler is bringing a new level of brilliance to its bling. This week saw the release of the couple’s first Tiffany campaign featuring Bey wearing the jaw-dropping 128.54 yellow Tiffany Diamond which was discovered in South Africa in 1877. The celebrated jeweler is second to none when it comes to diamond quality, and in 2020 the company launched a traceability program which details the journey and origin of every Tiffany diamond.
If you are a lover of jewels and the intricate craftsmanship of them, a new immersive in-store experience has just popped up at Tiffany’s Toronto Bloor Street store sharing a behind-the-scenes look at why Tiffany diamonds are so iconic. “The Diamonds of Tiffany” experience runs until December 2021 and gives a glimpse inside the luxury jeweler’s glitzy and glittering world. Here, you will discover what makes a Tiffany diamond so unique and coveted via an impactful installation featuring a series of four chapters: Diamond Provenance & Craft Journey, Diamond Clarity, Cut & Polish and Craftspeople.
In the first chapter, you will learn about Tiffany mining, the company’s commitment to environmental responsibility and quality. You are then invited into a makeshift Tiffany laboratory to play gemologist and discover the intensive process of how diamonds are graded for clarity. You can get up close and personal with gems using a Tiffany Blue microscope and learn to spot flaws and imperfections in the stones. Fun fact: Tiffany rejects any diamond with noticeable imperfections to the unaided eye.
Once a diamond is given the stamp of approval, it’s all about cut and polish. The cut of a stone is what gives it brilliance and hand-polishing is what truly makes the fire come alive.
Once you’ve learned all the secrets, it’s time to test drive some gems (many featuring Canadian mined diamonds) and pick out your dream Tiffany pieces. Some fun ones to check out which are new to the Tiffany lineup include an update on the 135-year-old Tiffany Setting engagement ring now with a sleek black titanium band; the heart-shape Tiffany Novo ring; and the Charles Tiffany setting men’s engagement ring which was just launched in April.
All photos courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
