Elsa Peretti: Celebrating 50 Years of Legendary Design

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Elsa Peretti’s Diamond-Clad Cabinet of Curiosities

**On her birthday, Only Natural Diamonds is looking back on the iconic designers’ most groundbreaking diamond collaborations for Tiffany & Co.**

Written by: Hannah Militano
May 1, 2025

Tiffany & Co. Celebrates 50 Years of Elsa Peretti Designs — Elsa Peretti (Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)

Descriptors like iconic or legendary may verge on the cliché, but still, they manage to personify designer Elsa Peretti. Few jewelers have permeated the zeitgeist quite as dramatically as Peretti. A tastemaker and trendsetter, the Italian model-turned-jewelry designer joined forces with Tiffany & Co. in September of 1974 and is responsible for some of the jeweler’s most memorable designs.

May 1 is Peretti’s birthday. The visionary would have turned 85 this year. In 2021, she passed away at her home in Spain at the age of 80. A rare, once-in-a-lifetime talent, her influence cannot be overstated.

In September 2024, the New York jewelry house celebrated 50 years since Peretti burst onto the scene, forever transforming the world of jewelry. To mark the milestone, the house paid tribute to her enduring legacy with special anniversary creations showcasing her iconic design language, elevated with natural diamonds. Reissuing some of Peretti’s most beloved icons throughout 2024 and 2025, Tiffany is offering rare Bone cuffs, hand-set with pavé diamonds, as well as her Open Heart, Starfish, Bean design, Scorpion, Amapola designs, and more.

Meet the Expert

Anthony Ledru is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tiffany & Co., a role he assumed in January 2021.
He brings decades of experience in luxury retail, having held senior leadership roles at Louis Vuitton and LVMH.

The house also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the collaboration during the 2024 US Open, showcasing a one-of-a-kind Elsa Peretti Diamonds by the Yard tennis racket inside of an innovative pop-up experience for the event.

“Elsa Peretti’s 50^th anniversary at Tiffany & Co. is a remarkable testament to the House’s heritage of collaborating with the world’s greatest artists,” said Anthony Ledru, the brand’s President and CEO. “Based on shared ideals of inventiveness and obsession with craft, Peretti was able to create an extraordinary universe of groundbreaking designs that changed the course of Tiffany’s history and continues to resonate to this day.” Ledru continued in a press release, “Elsa has been one of our most beloved and important designer collaborators for 50 years. Her designs are as modern today as ever—a true testament to her artistic vision and genius.”

Elsa Peretti’s Diamonds By The Yard

For her very first Tiffany design in 1974, Peretti placed 12 small diamonds, set in gold bezels at varying lengths on a 36-inch chain. She was tasked with creating a simplified diamond jewel, accessible for women on a budget. When her longtime friend and frequent collaborator, fashion designer Halston, first set his eyes on the piece, he dubbed it “Diamonds by the Yard.” Since then, “Diamonds by the Yard” has become a jewelry staple. Anya Taylor-Joy, Hailey Bieber, Zoë Kravitz count themselves fans.

Beyoncé even wore a custom “Diamonds by the Yard” dress by Tiffany & Co. during her Renaissance tour in 2023. While performing in Toronto, she dazzled in a custom dress adorned with more than 150 feet of Diamonds by the Yard and intricate mesh detailing—a piece that took over 200 hours to create and is valued at more than $1 million.

Elsa Peretti’s Bone Cuff

When designing the Bone Cuff, Peretti took inspiration from the bones she saw as a child in a 17th-century Capuchin church in Rome. Fresh and organic, the cuff is molded to reflect the human form. Peretti first introduced the bone cuff during a Halston runway show in the 1970s. Now available with a teardrop of pavé diamonds, Shakira wore a pair of silver and diamond bone cuffs during a performance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earlier this year.

Elsa Peretti’s Bean Design

Peretti’s Tiffany Bean design was inspired by seeds, a powerful symbol of life’s origins and new beginnings. Elegant in its simplicity, the piece is designed for everyday wear. With a discreet opening on either end, the diamond-accented bean effortlessly slides onto the chain of your choice, making it as versatile as it is meaningful.

Elsa Peretti’s Scorpion Design

Peretti often turned to nature as her muse, once noting, “Ideas come to me when I’m sitting outside and relaxed. Most of my designs are nature-inspired—for example, beans… as well as scorpions and snakes.” One of her most striking creations, the Scorpion necklace, was reimagined in natural diamonds and worn by Kate Hudson at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival. It was a bold, glittering homage to Peretti’s fascination with the natural world’s unexpected beauty.

Shop Our Favorite Elsa Peretti Staples:

Tiffany & Co. by Elsa Peretti® Bone Cuff in Yellow Gold with Pavé Diamonds, $63,000, tiffany.com. The Bone Cuff bracelet, often worn in pairs, was inspired by the human bones (of monks) she had seen inside a 17th-century church when she was growing up. Gal Gadot wore one in 18-karat gold in the film “Wonder Woman 1984”