Sapphire, Diamond and Platinum Drop Earrings, Tiffany and Co.

Unique Elements
These sapphire and diamond earrings are pure old Hollywood red carpet showstoppers. You could wear these with a paper bag and still look like a movie star.

Sapphire Blue sapphire is a variety of corundum, a mineral species that also includes ruby. Sapphires can be blue, violet, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, multicolored as well as color change, most often going from blue to purple, as well as gray, black, or brown. Blue sapphire can have both green and violet undertones, as well as the more desirable pure blue. Trace elements of iron or titanium cause sapphire’s blue color, with iron resulting in an inky, darker tone than the often vivid blue resulting from titanium. When jewelers refer to sapphire without specifying color, this refers to blue sapphire. Sapphire is the September birthstone and the stone of the 5th and 45th wedding anniversaries.

Pear Shape The pear shape, also known as teardrop shape, dates back to 1475 when Lodewyck van Bercken invented both the diamond polishing wheel and the pear shape that it enabled. Ideal pear shape symmetry is a length to width ratio of 1.5:1. In a ring, pear cuts can elongate the appearance of the finger, and in earrings, pear cuts can give the appearance of water droplets or movement. This shape holds more color than a round and is typically faceted in the brilliant style to provide maximum sparkle.

Marquise Shape In the 18th century, King Louis XV of France commissioned a diamond shape to resemble the lips of his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, known as the marquise or navette shape. The name comes from French court royalty who wore the diamonds to indicate their rank, which is between a count and a duke. The marquise is used for colored stones as well as diamonds, and is typically a brilliant cut with up to the full cut of 57 to 58 facets.

Round Brilliant-Cut The Round Brilliant Cut dates back to 1919, when Marcel Tolkowsky calculated a formula for proportional diamond design to maximize fire, brilliance and wearability, published as “Diamond Design: A Study of the Reflection and Refraction of Light in Diamond.” A round brilliant diamond can also be called a full cut diamond if it features the cutting standard of 57 or 58 facets.

Tiffany and Co. Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany, the house has become one of the most famous jewelers in the world, with its iconic blue box. In 1878 the company acquired the 287.42 diamond now known as the Tiffany Diamond from South Africa. This stone was worn by Audrey Hepburn in a necklace in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961. Tiffany & Co named Kunzite in 1902, Morganite in 1910, Tanzanite in the 1960s and Tsavorite in 1974. The house has collaborated with designers including Jean Schlumberger and Donald Claflin ( since 1955), Paloma Picasso ( since 1980) and Elsa Perreti( since 1974) and has been worn by royalty throughout the world.