“No rules. All welcome.” is the tagline behind Tiffany & Co‘s latest jewellery collection, Lock, which is the first the company has launched since 2021’s Knot line and will be arriving in stores globally from September. It’s the first collection by Tiffany & Co. to be described as ‘all gender’, designed to be worn by anyone – either singly or in a gleaming wrist stack.
The sleek new bangles, crafted from 18k yellow and rose gold and available as all-metal versions or studded with sparkling white diamonds, have a curved design interpreted from that of a padlock – a symbol, the company says, of our instinctive need to connect and how our ‘personal bonds with others’ can shape our personalities. Each piece features a unique swivelling mechanism in its clasp, again echoing the functionality of a padlock, which took Tiffany’s in-house team over a year to perfect.
“Lock is an elegant interpretation of an archival functional design,” says Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany & Co’s Executive Vice President of Product and Communication, who as also responsible for the company’s first jewellery using NFT technology, and for bringing Beyoncé and Jay-Z in as faces of the brand. “Defined by modern, clean lines and a breakthrough clasp mechanism, Tiffany Lock represents an exciting new pillar to our diamond and gold jewellery offering. We are thrilled to unveil our latest icon.”
The lock motif itself has a long history within the house’s design archive. Tiffany actually offered functional padlocks to customers prior to the 1950s, and from then onwards its shape has informed everything from money clips and brooches to key rings, brooches and necklaces. Over the last two decades, the padlock (not to mention its accompanying keys) has also taken on a romantic heart shape for the house’s Return to Tiffany collection, and given pearl pieces a tougher, more urban edge in its City HardWear line.
Accompanied by a campaign featuring the model Imam Hammam and the actor Tyshawn Jones, Tiffany’s Lock collection is the latest effort by the New York jeweller towards more inclusivity and diversion as it evolves towards the future. It almost certainly won’t be the last.
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