Paris takes on a Manhattan air,
There’s no need to brood like Audrey Hepburn – in Diamonds on a Sofa– just the simple desire for an American-style glamorous break will take you into this palace that time seems to have forgotten.
Audrey Hepburn® wears Jean Schlumberger’s Ribbon Rosette necklace with the Tiffany Diamond for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Photo Credit: Audrey Hepburn® Trademark and Likeness Licensed by Licensing Artists LLC for Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti.
For editorial use only.
Legendary jeweller Tiffany & CO. is taking over the most beautiful avenue in the world, and is not taking half-measures when it comes to Opening. A 1,000 m2 palace on the corner of rue de la Boétie and 62 Avenue des Champs-Elysées celebrates its opening with the ephemeral induction of the famous Tiffany Diamond.
Decked out in “Tiffany Blue” lights, the facade glows, highlighting the blue-blind windows adorned with forged grilles.
From the Arc de Triomphe, the first and second floors attract the gaze of passers-by in the City of Light.
Behind the entrance doors, set in the center of two columns carved with wheat ears like the boutique on New York’s 5th Avenue, lies a luxurious opulence.
This majestic jewel box blends rare materials and sophisticated details. Immaculate gray and white hues are warmed by walnut panels. Thought through to the last detail, the chic ground-floor lounge is studded with hand-finished white gold beads.
Strolling along a Calacatta marble parterre, a monumental spiral staircase, coiled around a chandelier as glittering as it is oversized, custom-designed by Studio Rose, is illuminated by Magnolia Tiffany sconces forged and hand-laid by New York artist Michel Oka Doner.
A gracefully uncluttered architectural treasure, the three floors are devoid of columns supporting the thresholds, and appear to be suspended in mid-air.
Ascending from the first floor to the upper levels – which house the Engagement area, Haute Joaillerie and private lounges – reveals a gallery.
This subtly imagined Tiffany mausoleum, featuring photographs, cartographies, sketches, vintage items and portraits, traces the brand’s close ties with France, including photographs of the first European Tiffany boutique opened in Paris in 1868. More than 175 years of history are revealed before the astonished eyes of customers.
Designed with elegant sobriety, the Tiffany Temple is packed with nods to the jeweler’s history. Firstly, the Magnolia motifs originally designed by Louis Comfort – for the Manhattan store on 72nd Avenue – are scattered throughout. Tiffany’s jewelry concepts, on which the Tiffany Diamond shines; the evocation of the six-claw setting, a true Maison classic. But also a photograph of Jean Schlumberger, Tiffany’s first French stylist in 1956.
A rough diamond of 287.42 carats is discovered in the Kimberley mines of South Africa Photo Credit: © CORBIS For editorial use only.
Drawing of the Tiffany Diamond from an 1886 ledger in the Tiffany Archives
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Tiffany & Co. Archives
For editorial use only.
Much more than a flagship store in which we stroll for a unique moment, it’s a veritable museum that pays tribute to the history of Tiffany. Grandiose and luminous, the new boutique takes pride of place on the world’s most beautiful avenue.
Tiffany Champs-Elysées: 62 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris
Olivia Baranes
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