Elsa Peretti: The Designer Behind the Tiffany Bone Cuff

The Tiffany Bone cuff was designed by Elsa Peretti, who joined Tiffany & Co. in 1974 and reshaped the house's approach to jewellery for decades. A wide, sculptural cuff that hugs the wrist with smooth, bone-like curves — and is made specifically for either the left or the right arm — the Bone cuff is the signature piece of a designer who treated jewellery as wearable sculpture. This guide covers Peretti's life and career, her years at Tiffany, her most important designs, how to identify genuine pieces, and what they are worth on the UK market today.

Who was Elsa Peretti?

Elsa Peretti (1940–2021) was an Italian jewellery designer born in Florence. The daughter of a wealthy oil industrialist, she left a conventional upbringing to work first as a model in Milan and Barcelona before moving to New York, where she modelled for designers including Halston and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo. It was through that fashion world that she began designing jewellery in the late 1960s.

Peretti's design language was organic, tactile and sensual. She drew on natural forms — bones, beans, hearts, teardrops, snake skins — and on her time in Spain, where the architecture of Antoni Gaudí and the bone-lined Capuchin crypt in Rome both left a deep impression. Rather than the rigid geometry and overt gem-setting of much fine jewellery, she pursued fluid shapes that felt alive against the body. She also did something radical for a luxury house: she made silver fashionable again at Tiffany, and used it as a serious material for serious design.

Her work was extraordinarily commercially successful and, for decades, accounted for a substantial share of Tiffany's sales. She continued designing for the house until late in her life, and remains one of the most influential jewellery designers of the twentieth century.

Elsa Peretti's years at Tiffany & Co.

Peretti joined Tiffany & Co. in 1974, brought in during a period when the house was looking to modernise. Her arrival transformed it. She introduced sterling silver as a desirable luxury material, designed objects for the home as well as jewellery, and created a body of work so distinctive that it still defines a wing of Tiffany's collections today.

Crucially, Peretti understood proportion and wearability in a way few designers do. Her Bone cuff is the clearest example: it is not symmetrical, but anatomically shaped, made to follow the contour of the wrist — which is why it is sold specifically for the left or right arm. That insistence on form following the body is the thread running through everything she made.

Her partnership with Tiffany lasted for the rest of her career, and the house continues to produce her designs under her name. Vintage examples from the 1970s and 1980s, in particular, are now sought by collectors.

The Open Heart — Peretti's fluid, sculptural take on a classic motif

Iconic pieces: the Bone cuff, Open Heart and Diamonds by the Yard

Several Peretti designs remain core Tiffany collections, and each shows her organic philosophy:

• The Bone cuff: Her signature. A wide, sculptural cuff in sterling silver (and, later, gold), anatomically shaped to the left or right wrist and inspired by natural bone forms. Its smooth, flowing surface is the purest expression of her wearable-sculpture approach.
• Open Heart: A fluid, looping heart pendant with an open centre, produced in silver and gold across many sizes. One of the most recognisable and widely owned pieces of designer jewellery in the world.
• Diamonds by the Yard: A 1974 innovation — small diamonds set at intervals along a fine chain, scattering brilliance without heavy mounts. It made diamond jewellery feel light and everyday, and was hugely influential.
• Bean, Teardrop and Mesh: Further Peretti motifs — the smooth Bean pendant, the Teardrop, and her flexible mesh designs — all sharing the same organic, tactile sensibility.

How to identify a genuine Elsa Peretti for Tiffany piece

Because Peretti designs are widely owned and widely imitated, careful authentication matters before buying or selling. Key checks include:

1. The signature. Genuine pieces are stamped with both the Tiffany & Co. mark and the Elsa Peretti name (often "Elsa Peretti" and the metal standard). The lettering should be crisp and correctly positioned.
2. Metal marks. Sterling silver pieces carry a 925 mark; gold pieces carry the appropriate standard. Country-of-origin marks (such as Spain, where many were made) may also be present.
3. Form and finish. Peretti's surfaces are exceptionally smooth and the forms are fluid and asymmetric where intended — the Bone cuff is left- or right-specific. A symmetrical or crude "bone" cuff is suspect.
4. Weight and proportion. Genuine pieces have a satisfying, solid feel and exact proportions. Lightweight or poorly finished copies are common.
5. Box, pouch and papers. Original Tiffany packaging and documentation support authenticity and add to value, though their absence does not by itself indicate a fake.

For more on the wider Peretti collection, see our Elsa Peretti guide.

Current market value and resale

Elsa Peretti pieces hold their value well, with vintage and rarer examples commanding particular interest. Values depend on the design, metal, size, age and condition, but as a general guide:

• Sterling silver Open Heart and Bean pendants: accessible entry points, with steady secondary-market demand
• Sterling silver Bone cuff: a sought design; current examples typically sell in the region of several hundred to over a thousand pounds depending on size and condition
• Gold Peretti pieces and Diamonds by the Yard: command a significant premium over silver
• Vintage and rare examples: exceptional pieces achieve strong prices at auction — a pair of Bone cuffs sold at Sotheby's in 2023 for around €55,000

For the broader question of how designer jewellery performs as an asset, see does designer jewellery hold its value? Authenticated pieces with original packaging always achieve the strongest prices.

Diamonds by the Yard — Peretti's 1974 idea of weightless diamond jewellery

How to sell an Elsa Peretti piece in the UK

If you own an Elsa Peretti for Tiffany piece and are considering selling, you have two main routes: auction or a specialist dealer. Auction can suit rare vintage or gold examples, but involves commission, delay and uncertainty. A specialist dealer offers an immediate, firm price.

At Mozeris Fine Antiques we buy Elsa Peretti, and other Tiffany designer pieces, outright. We authenticate, value against the live secondary market, and pay promptly — with no commission deducted. For more on choosing between routes, read selling designer jewellery: dealer vs auction. To begin, visit our sell your Tiffany jewellery page or our designer jewellery hub.

For another of Tiffany's great designers, see our guide to Jean Schlumberger, and for the house's wider history our piece on the Tiffany Setting. You may also be interested in vintage jewellery from the same era.

Frequently asked questions

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