RARE AND IMPORTANT FANCY INTENSE YELLOW DIAMOND AND EMERALD RING, TIFFANY & CO., DESIGNED BY LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY, CIRCA 1915-1920

The oval diamond of fancy intense yellow color weighing 11.05 carats, within a gold filigree mounting set with calibré-cut emeralds, foliate pattern engraved inside shank, size 8, signed Tiffany & Co, two emeralds missing. Accompanied by the original silk floral box in the Japonesque style. These boxes were used only for the art jewelry designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

EXHIBITED
Exhibited October 19, 2008 through January 18, 2009 at The Cleveland Museum of Art and at the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums Legion of Honor February 7th through May 31, 2009.


LITERATURE AND REFERENCES
Illustrated in Jeanine Falino and Yvonne J. Markowitz, American Luxury: Jewels from the House of Tiffany, p. 136, plate 84.

CATALOGUE NOTE
Accompanied by GIA report no. 12348863 stating Fancy Intense Yellow, Natural Color, VS1 clarity.

Although known for his stained glass windows, leaded glass lamps and favrile glass vessels, it was not until 1902 that Louis Comfort Tiffany embarked on jewelry design. This division was located at Tiffany Furnaces until 1907 when it was purchased by Tiffany & Co. with a special department set up at the Tiffany & Co. store. From that date until the workshop closed in 1933, all of Louis Comfort Tiffany's jewelry was stamped with the Tiffany & Co. mark. This ring is characteristic of the jewelry made under Tiffany's direction and dates to c. 1915 to 1920, when Meta Overbeck was in charge of the department. Jewelry created while she was director is bolder in conception both in design and use of gemstones.

Louis Comfort Tiffany worked with George Frederick Kunz, the gem expert at Tiffany & Co., who traveled the world in search of rare and beautiful gemstones. It was he who would have found this rare 11.05 carat natural color fancy intense yellow diamond and it was Tiffany's keen eye for color that paired it with fancy-cut emeralds. The juxtaposition of deep yellow and dark green is the palette of a painter who understood the subtleties of color. This magnificent stone is heir to other important Tiffany yellow diamonds including the 30.00 carat Brunswick Diamond and the 128.54 carat Tiffany Diamond that is still in the company's collection.

The mounting on this ring is designed with filigree work, most likely inspired by items in Tiffany's collection at his home, Laurelton Hall, which included a Hindu silver neck ornament and an Albanian buckle. In this technique, two thin wires are twisted together in a rope-like manner, then fashioned into rosettes, scrolls or coiled wire as on this ring. The rope-like motifs encircle the diamond and border the emeralds with the ornamentation continuing as strips on the shank, terminating with incised bands. The decoration is reiterated on the underside of the diamond, encircling the culet; a detail that only a superb designer would create.

I have only seen one other Louis Comfort Tiffany ring with yellow diamonds that is now in the collection of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Museum in Japan. That ring has three smaller diamonds but this ring, with one important stone, has an amazing quality about it; my impression of the diamond the first time I saw it. This ring is an iconic jewel and ranks among the best not only of Tiffany's designs but also of American jewelry, rivaling that of European makers.

Janet Zapata

Author: The Jewelry and Enamels of Louis Comfort Tiffany