Elsa Peretti: the Story of a Myth
1974. Elsa Peretti joins the family of Tiffany & Co. and conquers America (but not only!). Thanks to simple jewels, easy to wear on jeans as well as on an evening dress. All strictly silver made. Brief storytelling of a worldwide success
Not with gold, nor with platinum. But it was with silver that Elsa Peretti conquered America (and not just that!) in the glorious Seventies. Her first three collections were sold out on the first day of launch, and she immediately became "The" designer of Tiffany & Co. launching it into the "real" world of everyday life. The author of the democratization of luxury. Let’s in fact think that in 1961 the brand entered the myth thanks to the famous novel Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote and the silhouette of Audrey Hepburn in front of its windows on Fifth Avenue in the film of the same name. However, something, or better, someone had to return to make it perceive as accessible to everybody. And so it was. Thanks to an apple, a bean, a snake and a collection of delicious bones to wear every day. All silver made, of course. How were these best sellers born? From childhood memories, seductive shapes, suggestions of the moment...
«THE APPLE. EVER SINCE THE DAYS OF EVE, THIS SMOOTH, ROUND OBJECT HAS EMBODIED THE ETERNAL TEMPTATION OF WOMEN. LIKE A MAGNET, ITS APPEAL HAS DRAWN US TO IT. JUST AS MY OWN APPLE LURED ME. MY DUTY AS A DESIGNER IS TO CRYSTALLIZE BOTH THE TEMPTATION AND ALSO THE IMAGE OF NEW YORK»
- Talking about the Apple Collection, 1986
«IN LAUSANNE, A TEXAN GUY GAVE ME THE END PIECE OF A RATTLESNAKE TAIL AS A GOOD LUCK CHARM. I KEPT THE OBJECT WITH ME FOR MANY YEARS. THE EXPERTISE OF EXCELLENT CRAFTSMEN, AND MY WILL, BROUGHT THE SNAKE TO LIFE IN SILVER AND GOLD» 
- Talking about the Snake Collection, 1973/74
«THE APPEAL OF THIS NATURAL SHAPE HAS REMAINED CONSTANT FOR ME THROUGH THE YEARS. ON A LIGHTER, ITS CURVE BECOMES STEEPER, TAKING ON A NATURAL MEANING. ON A WOMAN'S PURSE, THE HOLLOW FOR THE HAND DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE PRIMARY SHAPE AND THOUGHT, A BEAN, A SEED, THE ORIGIN OF LIFE» 
- Talking about the Bean Collection
«MY LOVE FOR BONES HAS NOTHING MACABRE ABOUT IT. AS A CHILD, I KEPT ON VISITING A CEMETERY... ALL THE ROOMS WERE DECORATED WITH HUMAN BONES. MY MOTHER HAD TO SEND ME BACK, TIME AND AGAIN, WITH A STOLEN BONE IN MY LITTLE PURSE. THINGS THAT ARE FORBIDDEN REMAIN WITH YOU FOREVER. LATER ON, I DESIGNED A WORLD OF BEAUTIFUL SHAPES WHICH HAVE REMAINED WITH ME EVER SINCE» 
- Talking about the Bone Cuff Collection, 1974
