The National Jeweler editors recap the top news, the best jewels, and their favorite stories of the year.
Tiffany Launches New Collection During Quarantine
T1 is a bolder take on the Tiffany T range, celebrating a woman’s personal power.
The New York-headquartered jeweler is providing an antidote to the general quarantine-induced sense of uncertainty with a bold update to the Tiffany T collection, T1.
“The goal was to reinvent the ‘T’ motif in a new bold symbol that felt very modern,” Reed Krakoff, chief artistic officer, said on the Tiffany website.
The 18-karat rose gold and diamond collection sees rings and bangles crafted in the Tiffany T motif with a bolder, beveled edge.
T1 is a symbol of the wearer’s connection to herself, a totem of personal power, per the brand’s messaging.
The smallest ring in 18-karat gold without diamonds sells for $850, while a hinged bracelet covered in two rows of pave round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing more than four carats is priced at $28,000.
“The stones nest into each other evoking a honeycomb pattern,” Krakoff said.
The addition to the Tiffany T range was quietly previewed at the BAFTA awards this year, Great Britain’s version of the Oscars, when Charlize Theron sported a T1 high jewelry choker, seen below.
Embed from Getty Images
With much of the world on lockdown, Tiffany officially unveiled T1 digitally last month, posting campaign videos and images on its website, and promoting it last week on Instagram.
Supermodels Vittoria Ceretti, Freja Beha Erichsen and Adut Akech star in the campaign, which is rendered in black and white, save for the rose gold jewels and splashes of “Tiffany blue.”
Videos depict the women as superhero-esque figures, with punchy music denoting the kitsch of good guys fighting crime in cartoons.
Tiffany uses words like “empowerment,” “independent,” “unwavering,” and “strong,” across its T1 Instagram and website campaign, ostensibly appealing to a self-purchasing consumer.
As brands adopt a more sensitive, considerate tone during the pandemic, Tiffany’s homepage as of press time showcased T1 with the words “Courage. Strength. Optimism.”
The messaging cleverly pivots its theme of personal empowerment to the strength required to endure challenges, a subtle move that switches focus from the individual to the collective.
Tiffany has also upped its social content to connect with its audience on social media.
Last week, the brand launched a weekly Instagram Live series to coincide with its T1 push.
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The first guest was Cleo Wade, the millennial-favorite poet, author, artist and activist.
Instagram Live, which allows users to stream their stories—you guessed it—live and remain for 24 hours, has exploded as people lock down in their homes and social distance.
Business Insider noted that Instagram Live usage jumped 70 percent from mid-March to mid-April.
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