Diamond Hall of Fame:
The Yellow Tiffany Diamond
Only four women have ever worn the yellow diamond that earned Charles Lewis Tiffany his moniker, “The King of Diamonds.”
Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
One of the largest and finest Fancy Yellow diamonds in the world, the Tiffany Diamond has become as synonymous with the New York jewelry house as its trademarked color, Tiffany Blue. Purchased at a time when only royalty owned diamonds this large, the massive yellow diamond has only been publicly worn four times ever.
The rare fancy yellow Tiffany Diamond was unearthed in 1877 as a 287.42-carat rough diamond from the Kimberly mines of South Africa. It was purchased by Charles Lewis Tiffany for approximately $18,000, earning him the nickname, “The King of Diamonds.”
George Frederick Kunz, the firm’s chief gemologist, oversaw the year-long cutting process of the gem. In 1878, the rough diamond was cut in Paris into a 128.54-carat cushion shape brilliant with a whopping 82 facets, revealing the diamond’s extraordinary nature. Instead of the traditional 58-facet cut for a round diamond, Tiffany exceeded the custom by 24 facets to assure peak ‘fire’ and radiance – radiant enough to give the diamond his name. Rather than sell it, the Tiffany founder decided to keep the stone for posterity, and nearly 150 years later, it has never been offered for sale, remaining an integral part of the Tiffany legacy.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the diamond traveled the world through global exhibitions as a loose stone, showcased at the 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition and the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. The diamond has been displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago, New York’s American Museum of Natural History, and typically found a home at the Tiffany New York flagship.
It traveled through exhibits until it was mounted in a lavish white diamond necklace for socialite Mary Whitehouse to wear at the 1957 Tiffany Ball in Newport, Rhode Island, where she became the first person to wear the astounding natural diamond.
Since then, the Tiffany Diamond has been mounted into three other pieces of jewelry, two of which were designed by Tiffany’s famed in-house jeweler Jean Schlumberger.
In 1961, Audrey Hepburn began filming Breakfast at Tiffany’s in New York City. Based on the Truman Capote best-selling novel, the movie marked the first time motion picture cameras were allowed inside a Tiffany’s boutique.
Hepburn’s character Holly Golightly and her love interest Paul Varjak (played by George Peppard) stroll through the store together when she says, “It isn’t that I give a hoot about jewelry, except diamonds, of course…Like that.” The camera pans to the 128.54-carat yellow Tiffany Diamond necklace, sitting prominently inside the jewelry case.
In promotional photos for the film, Hepburn teamed her little black dress and evening gloves with the 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond set within the Jean Schlumberger-designed Ribbon Rosette necklace, making her the second woman to ever wear the stone. The great-grandson of Charles Lewis Tiffany, Henry B. Platt was even photographed adjusting the jewel for Hepburn.
In 1995, the Maison mounted its famed Tiffany Yellow Diamond into Schlumberger’s unique Bird on a Rock setting. The piece was revealed at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Jean Schlumberger retrospective in Paris that year, gaining notoriety as it traveled the world on exhibition. Thanks to the diamond’s notoriety, the Bird on a Rock would go on to be one of Tiffany & Co.’s most recognizable motifs to date.
It remained in the setting until 2012 when the diamond was re-set in a necklace featuring over 100 carats of white diamonds in celebration of Tiffany’s 175th Anniversary. It was slightly modified before its red carpet debut, seven years later.
Lady Gaga made a splash at the 2019 Oscars, wearing two classic black gowns reminiscent of Hepburn’s Givenchy ensemble in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Walking the red carpet in a strapless custom Alexander McQueen gown and leather opera gloves, the pop star changed into a scoop-neck Brandon Maxwell creation to perform “Shallow” from A Star Is Born before accepting her very first Academy Award for Best Original Song. Both dresses served as the ideal canvas for the huge rock on her neck. Lady Gaga donned the cushion-cut canary yellow diamond to accompany her two classic gowns and new golden trophy in what is now considered one of the most memorable Oscar jewelry moments of all time. Released from the Tiffany vault, especially for Lady Gaga, the last time this priceless, 146-year-old gemstone was worn was in 1961 by Hepburn while promoting Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
At the time, Gaga took to Instagram to express her gratitude. “For the Oscars, @tiffanyandco offered to go into their vault and let me wear their iconic, 141-year-old Tiffany diamond,” she wrote. “The last person to wear this was Audrey Hepburn while promoting Breakfast at Tiffany’s 😭 It was an honor to wear it and made my unforgettable night even more special.”
Beyoncé became the fourth person and first Black woman to ever wear the celebrated gem in the 2021 Tiffany “About Love” campaign, alongside her husband Jay-Z. Photographed in front of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting “Equals Pi,” Beyoncé emulated Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s costume, wearing a black Givenchy gown of her own with the Tiffany Diamond. She even sits down at a piano and performs her own rendition of “Moon River,” the song made famous by Hepburn in the 1961 film.
The campaign marked the first time the power couple has appeared in an ad campaign together, as well as the first time the Tiffany Diamond has ever been included in a Tiffany & Co. campaign.
The next time this incomparable diamond was ingratiated into the pop culture oeuvre, it seemed to have made its way to the silver screen. Or did it?
Based on the 1937 Agatha Christie novel, 20th Century Studios adapted the murder mystery, Death on the Nile with a star-studded cast including Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Annette Bening, and the Tiffany Diamond. A sparkling stunt-double recreation of the stone took center stage in the film. Linnet Ridgeway Doyle, portrayed by Gadot, receives the astonishing jewel as a wedding present from her husband before it goes missing.
The film’s costume designer Paco Delgado, told British Vogue how surreal it felt to have access to the Tiffany Diamond. “For security reasons, and because of the nature of the plot, Tiffany & Co. made various replicas for us [to use] for the film. The level of security required to protect the original is just remarkable. It’s really a star of the production in its own right,” he explained.
Dua Lipa attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images)
Dua Lipa attended the 2023 Met Gala, wearing Tiffany & Co.’s Lucinda Star necklace, with the Legendary diamond at its center. The new white D-colored natural diamond is over 100 carats with 82 facets and was responsibly sourced from Botswana. Paying tribute to the shape of the Tiffany diamond, the impressive jewel has a nearly identical cushion cut to the iconic sunshine yellow gem.
Dua Lipa is the first star to ever wear the reset white Legendary diamond, which was previously set in Jean Schlumberger’s iconic Bird on a Rock brooch, much like the yellow Tiffany diamond.
After taking flight from within the Bird on a Rock setting nearly 30 years ago, the Tiffany yellow diamond has since been rejoined with the bird design in celebration of the reopening of The Landmark on Fifth Avenue in 2023. Now in a new transformable pendant, five birds take flight, encircling the legendary diamond.
“The Tiffany Diamond is the cornerstone of our House. It embodies our unwavering commitment to pursuing beauty over size,” said Tiffany & Co. Chief Gemologist, Victoria Wirth Reynolds. “When the diamond was discovered, few had witnessed a yellow diamond so remarkable. Today, the Tiffany Diamond remains unrivaled in scintillation and beauty. Its intense sparkle can be seen from far across the room.”
“The latest design to uplift the Tiffany Diamond is a breathtaking homage to the Bird on a Rock. It’s a modern incarnation of a legacy that began in 1995, when the legendary diamond was mounted on Schlumberger’s diamond-encrusted bird,” Reynolds explained.
“Rather than a single bird resting on top of the diamond, our designers reimagined the motif to evoke five birds encircling the diamond midair,” said Reynolds. “The new design can be worn as a brooch or a pendant using the innovative clasp on the reverse side of the brooch.”
Diamond Hall of Fame
