The jewels shone as bright as the stars that came out for the Tiffany & Co. 2024 Céleste Blue Book fairytale launch event Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Anya Taylor-Joy, Usher, Emily Blunt, Gal Gadot, Reese Witherspoon, Ava Phillippe, Olivia Wilde, Quinta Brunson, and many more of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy-owned luxury house’s Hollywood ambassadors modeled jewels from the collection which Tiffany executive Alexandre Arnault reminded the crowd more than once in his toast had to be returned at the end of the night, when the spell presumably would be broken.
The Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy-owned luxury maison pulled out all the stops for its latest haute couture high jewelry collection, taking over the famed Beverly Estate in Beverly Hills, residence of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, honeymoon destination of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and a favorite Hollywood backdrop for scenes in “The Godfather” and Beyoncé’s “Black Is King,” among many others.
Céleste is the largest Blue Book collection to date by the numbers and retail value, with 157 pieces that have an average price point of close to $1 million each, putting them in a category Tiffany chief executive officer Anthony Ledru told WWD defies the luxury slowdown and is “recession proof.”
At the event, 67 pieces were on display across five rooms. The celestial designs by artistic director Nathalie Verdeille, many inspired by legendary Tiffany jeweler Jean Schlumberger, were impressive even by celebrity standards.
Usher, who helped kick off the “bro brooch” trend as The New York Times called it, made a beeline for the display of Bird on a Rock brooches similar to the one he was wearing. How many pins does he have in his personal collection?
“Probably more than I want to admit,” he said. “I think my elders did something to me and made me understand the value of them. I coudn’t make it make sense in my head until they were no longer here, so when I wear brooches I think of my grandmother.”
Those lucky enough to wear the new Tiffany pieces were gobsmacked, including Suki Waterhouse. “Isn’t it nuts, it’s really quite silly,” she said of her glittering gold, platinum and rubellite necklace. “I feel like I have clarity of mind.”
“I tried to make a break for it,” Gabrielle Union joked of absconding with her incredible Schlumberger fish motif collar from the 2023 Blue Book collection, which would make for a great beginning to a heist movie come to think of it. She paired the piece with a custom black and white Staud sequin dress, keeping the clothes simple to let the jewels stand out, as Emily Blunt did in a white sequin Galvan sheath and Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany turquoise and diamond flower necklace.
There were try-ons for some. Cara Daur amassed a small pile of diamonds to add to the ones she was wearing and tried them on in real time on her social media. “Simple! T-shirt and jeans,” Witherspoon said of the look, sounding very “Legally Blonde” as she walked by with her daughter.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley spent a good long while taking video of the Céleste collection’s crown jewel, a heart-stopping winged diamond Pegasus necklace inspired by the symbol of flight, in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold with a diamond of more than 20 carats.
Others appreciated how the history of Tiffany resonates today.
“I love the archives,” said Adria Arjona, wearing a vintage Tiffany amethyst necklace from the 1800s. “I said, ‘How much is it?’ They said, ‘priceless.’ I said ‘I think you’ve got the wrong girl!’”
First published in 1845, the Tiffany & Co. Blue Book was the first direct-mail catalogue to bring fine jewelry to American households. In the decades that followed, its pages became the stuff of luxury legend, showcasing the most extravagant stones and creations.
“It started with the Gold Rush on the West Coast actually, that’s when [Charles Lewis Tiffany] realized there was a lot of wealth here,” said Ledru of the early marketing effort, which evolved into the Blue Book Collection.
“We worked on Out of the Blue last year, going to the depths of the sea. Céleste was going in the opposite direction, to the sun, cosmos, rays of light, a fantasy world of mystical symbols,” Verdeille said of the designs.
After some shopping, the stars, their stylists and press mingled over bubbly overlooking the pool. Gal Gadot was virtually unrecognizable in oversize Celine shades (apparently she had a headache), chatting with Anya Taylor-Joy, who looked stunning in a waist-cinching chocolate brown corset gown by Hamda Al Fahim.
Dinner was alfresco at two long tables on the terrace in the shadow of the main house, which Tiffany repainted from terracotta to cream for the three weeks of client selling events it will be holding on site. The brand expression, as they say, continued to the tabletop, including wine glasses with Tiffany blue stems raised during Arnault’s toast.
“Most of us, including myself, have to give everything back tonight. I’m sorry about it as well,” he told the 150 guests, which included stylists and press. “Hopefully, we’re turning the brand into something more elevated than it has ever been, and today is the first time we can really share this vision with all of you. Thank you, enjoy, drink some wine and give us the jewelry back.”
