In 1985, Paloma Picasso posed wearing her large citrine necklace in her New York apartment for Vogue lensman Horst P. Horst. Photo Getty 

A Look Back at The Artistry of Paloma Picasso

Her bold jewels and artistic ready-to-wear pieces are the best of 80’s style

by Marion Fasel 

Right before the pandemic shut everything down in New York, I received a special gift of a Paloma Picasso silver Scribble brooch. The jewel was such a surprise, I well-up after I opened it. The design is one I have long loved, but it never occurred to me to buy one. Once I started wearing it pinned to my beloved puff sleeve Ulla Johnson grey sweatshirt for walks with my dog Hunter to the park and trips to the grocery store, I realized what a great treasure it is. The weight of the piece is magnificent. All of it got me to thinking back to Paloma Picasso’s heyday at Tiffany & Co.

When Paloma Picasso debuted her first collection for Tiffany in 1980, Vogue said, “It redefined ‘real’ jewelry in a modern sense.” At a time when “real” jewelry was expected to have diamonds, Picasso designed with semiprecious stones. The sophisticated way she handled the gems infused the stones with glamour. “She would take a citrine and make it look as important as a canary diamond,” proclaimed legendary Vogue accessories editor Candy Pratts Price.

What the press saw as a bold move away from diamond jewelry was intuitive for Picasso. “I like big stones and with semiprecious stones you can work in really large sizes,” explained the designer when I interviewed her for Bejeweled, a book I co-authored with Penny Proddow. “I guess that comes from being the child of two painters.”   read more.....

 

Vintage Tiffany & Co. Paloma Picasso Forever X Collection Necklace shop

   

 

                        

Vintage Tiffany & Co. Paloma Picasso Forever X Collection Bracelet  shop

       

         

Vintage Tiffany & Co. Paloma Picasso Forever X Collection Earrings shop

              

 

       

    

Vintage Tiffany Paloma Picasso Necklace  available

 

                            

                                     Paloma Picasso Photo from Getty Images

 

 

        

                    Paloma Picasso Flower Collection for Tiffany & Co.

                                             available on Deleuse.com

  

 

 

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