For Their Next Trick, Pharrell & Tiffany Make Diamonds Levitate (EXCLUSIVE)
I’ve sometimes wondered if Pharrell Williams is a magician. At times, it seems the only reasonable answer to how he manages to be so ubiquitous, shape-shifting between umpteen different roles (creative director of LV, award-winning musician, skincare guru, hotelier, auctioneer… the list goes on).
And his latest collection with Tiffany & Co., only adds to my suspicions. The multi-hyphenate creative has made diamonds levitate in the air! (Well, kinda.)
The third Tiffany Titan by Pharrell Williams collection introduces the “Titan Setting”, a platform that elevates diamonds without any prongs or bezels to appear as though they are hovering. It is a development of Tiffany’s signature Floeting platform.
“For the next iteration of the Titan story, I wanted to explore the concept of floating on some of these pieces,” says Williams. “I worked directly with the creative teams at Tiffany to integrate the Floeting platform into the setting to give the illusion of that hovering effect.”
These diamonds “hover” on top of pendants, earrings, and a ring. On the earrings, for example, the diamond is designed to look like part of the ear.
Finished with small spikes, a motif carried through from Pharrell’s previous two Tiffany collections, it’s undeniably extravagant stuff (what else would you expect from Pharrell? Or Tiffany & Co., for that matter). And it doesn’t end there.
For his second Tiffany & Co. collection, Pharrell worked with pearls for the first time — a precious gem he has “always been intrigued by and wanted to work with,” — and for its follow-up release, he takes his fascination with pearls further. This time, he’s working with sought-after Tahitian cultured pearls.
“My favorite piece among the new styles is the necklace,” Pharrell tells Highsnobiety. “It is big and bold. The Tahitian pearls have a sort of iridescence to them. It’s such a cool statement.”
What distinguishes Tahitian pearls, and makes them so valuable, is their color. Darker than your traditional freshwater pearls, those in Pharrell and Tiffany’s latest release have a gray body color, with overtones ranging from green to purple.
They are cultivated over a minimum of 18 months in the tropical saltwater lagoons of French Polynesia before Tiffany artisans hand-select each pearl for visual uniformity and quality control. Those that make the cut are brought onto a pendant, earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring, each crafted in 18k rose gold with pavé diamonds.
It’s rarely a quiet day for Pharrell Williams. Last week, at Paris Fashion Week, he unveiled his latest collection as Louis Vuitton’s creative director (simultaneously launching a private auction) and presented a new adidas collaboration. Now, he’s already revealing his next project.
Magician or not, Pharrell’s constant output is undeniably impressive.
