Paloma Picasso

It was a brisk Fall morning, with the wind whipping my cheeks as we waited on Fifth Avenue anticipating the opening of the golden-trimmed exterior entrance. We stood staring blankly in awe as we entered through the revolving door into the iconic space which housed the most precious diamond engagement rings and everything else that sparkles and fills a young girl’s imagination. From my first step inside, I was hooked. The rows of lighted cases, hints of Tiffany blue perfectly placed throughout and a picturesque view from the window of the bustling city. The feeling really was just like the movies had described. I never expected to purchase anything on my first visit to Tiffany and Company, but browsing alongside my mother was an unforgettable experience in of itself. We got in the elevator, breezed up to the third floor and that’s what I knew exactly what I had my eye on: the perfectly cursive aesthetic of two tiny crisscrossed, heart-shaped earrings. The way they glistened gently in the morning sunlight had me entranced. Unbeknownst to my wide, blue-eyed nine-year-old self, these were the iconic Loving Heart earrings designed by Paloma Picasso.

Anne Paloma Ruiz-Picasso y Gilot was born in the south of France, to her pair of exuberantly artistic parents, in 1949. While art was flowing throughout Paloma’s DNA, she did not initially choose to follow in her father’s footsteps as a child. She spent much time admiring her parents’ work and doing her own, as it was in her nature, but was filled with the desire to pave her own path. In her own words, she shared the pressure of her legacy saying: “As I grew up, I started to feel the weight of my heritage. By the time I was 14, I completely froze, I couldn’t draw any longer.” Eventually, around the age of 18, she used her to innate skills to find the art that truly sparked passion for her: jewelry. Emancipation from her legacy was still high on her list of priorities in order to stand on her own two feet, but as soon as she started designing, she knew this was where she belonged.

Why jewelry? Pure connection. Jewelry is something every woman holds close to her, as it either resides on her finger, ear, wrist or neck, intimately placed on the body. For Paloma, she lit up when describing her relationship with her craft, “There’s something very personal about designing jewelry. You really become part of somebody else’s life.” Behind every collection she designed, she used inspiration from her own life to share with her consumer. Be it her women-empowering designs emphasizing gold and semi-precious stones in the 1980s or her more delicate Olive Leaf collection inspired by her home in Morocco, she connects each with purpose and beauty. In the creation of her first collection at Tiffany’s, Paloma’s Graffiti, she took a visual taboo of the time and made it exquisitely desired.

Jewelry was not just another accessory to Paloma; it was a chance for innovation to explore the unknown in style. In reference to her start at Tiffany’s in 1980, she said, “My designs were bold, with a certain simplicity and strength, and a strong point of view.” This was something she revered with great importance in all of her creative endeavors. I believe she helped women break free of their accessory comfort-zone. She did not believe in simply wearing outlandish, bold statement pieces just because it was a trend of the time, but to introduce women to jewelry that felt unified with their own skin. Women should feel a type of confidence when they put on the perfect piece of jewelry, and Paloma creates a sense of sensuality to her design, breeding this confidence that may have not existed previously.

Today, Paloma continues to design for Tiffany & Co. after over 35 years. Despite being strangers, one thing we undoubtedly share is the excitement we feel around the Fifth Avenue store. “To me, this is the most beautiful store that as ever built, so to be here was” … “a dream I am so happy to have been able to fulfill,” gushed Paloma. I know her pieces will forever catch the entrancement of the wide-eyed child, as they did for me twenty years ago. Heritage aside, the talent Paloma was gifted has certainly not gone unrecognized. She stays far more under-the-radar than her late father, which accounts for her subtle popularity, but the novelty of her collections have spoken for themselves. The beauty and meaning behind her designs will eternally make a statement of their time and beyond.