Paloma Picasso: The Tiffany Loving Heart & Bold Designs

The Tiffany Loving Heart was designed by Paloma Picasso, who joined Tiffany & Co. in 1980 and quickly became one of its defining designers of the decade. A bold gold heart crossed by a single looping "X" — the kiss in "love and kisses" — the Loving Heart distils her graphic, confident style. This guide covers Picasso's life and career, her years at Tiffany, her best-known designs, how to identify genuine pieces, and what they are worth on the UK market today.

Who is Paloma Picasso?

Paloma Picasso (born 1949) is a French-Spanish jewellery designer and the daughter of the painter Pablo Picasso and the artist and writer Françoise Gilot. Raised among artists, she grew up surrounded by colour, form and a fearless approach to making. She studied jewellery design in Paris and worked on costume jewellery and stage designs before establishing her own name.

Her style is unmistakable: bold, graphic and full of colour. Where Elsa Peretti pursued organic softness, Picasso pursued strong line, scale and saturated gemstones. She drew on graffiti, calligraphy, the energy of city streets and the vivid palette of her artistic upbringing. Lipstick-red, vivid blue and bold gold are recurring notes in her work.

She brought a designer's confidence and a celebrity's profile to Tiffany, and her collections became among the house's most commercially successful of the 1980s and beyond.

Paloma Picasso's years at Tiffany & Co.

Picasso joined Tiffany & Co. in 1980, recruited as the house continued to build a roster of named designers following the success of Elsa Peretti. Her arrival added a bolder, more colourful and more graphic voice to the collections.

Her work for Tiffany ranged from accessible gold and silver pieces to important jewels set with large, vividly coloured gemstones — citrines, amethysts, tourmalines, aquamarines and morganites in generous cabochon and faceted cuts. She treated colour the way a painter does: as the subject, not the accent. Many of her designs remain in production at Tiffany decades later.

Her most enduring popular design, the Loving Heart, arrived in 1985 and became a Tiffany staple — produced in silver and gold, with and without diamonds, across many sizes.

A Graffiti scribble pendant — Picasso's love of bold line

Iconic pieces: Loving Heart, Graffiti and Olive Leaf

Several Picasso designs define her legacy at Tiffany, and many remain in production:

• Loving Heart (1985): Her signature. A bold heart crossed by a single looping "X" motif — the kiss — in gold or silver, with and without diamonds. One of Tiffany's most recognisable and widely owned designs.
• Love & Kisses: A collection built on the X and O motifs of kisses and hugs, extending the theme of the Loving Heart across pendants, earrings and rings.
• Graffiti: Pieces inspired by street graffiti and scribbled marks — Xs, hearts, kisses and words rendered as gold and gem-set jewels, capturing the energy of 1980s New York.
• Olive Leaf and bold gemstone jewels: Her nature-inspired Olive Leaf collection, and her important cocktail rings and pendants set with large, vividly coloured gemstones — the boldest expression of her painter's eye for colour.

How to identify a genuine Paloma Picasso for Tiffany piece

Picasso designs are widely owned and imitated, so authentication matters before buying or selling. Key checks include:

1. The signature. Genuine pieces carry both the Tiffany & Co. mark and the Paloma Picasso name. The lettering should be crisp and correctly positioned.
2. Metal marks. Sterling silver pieces carry a 925 mark; gold pieces carry the appropriate standard (such as 750 for 18-carat). Country-of-origin marks may also be present.
3. Quality of line and finish. Picasso's graphic designs depend on a confident, even line — the loop of a Loving Heart, the sweep of a Graffiti scribble. Crude or hesitant execution indicates a copy.
4. Gemstone quality. Her important pieces use large, well-cut, vividly coloured stones. The colour and cut should be of the standard expected of Tiffany.
5. Box and papers. Original Tiffany packaging and documentation support authenticity and add to value, though their absence does not by itself indicate a fake.

Current market value and resale

Paloma Picasso pieces hold their value well, with gemstone and gold examples leading the way. Values depend on the design, metal, gemstones, size and condition, but as a general guide:

• Sterling silver Loving Heart and Graffiti pieces: accessible entry points, with steady secondary-market demand
• Gold Loving Heart and Love & Kisses pieces: command a clear premium over silver, more so with diamonds
• Large gemstone cocktail rings and pendants: valued on the quality and size of the coloured stones as well as the signature; her boldest pieces achieve the strongest prices
• Vintage 1980s examples: early pieces in good condition attract collector interest

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.

A bold cabochon pendant — colour and scale, the heart of her gemstone work

How to sell a Paloma Picasso piece in the UK

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

At Mozeris Fine Antiques we buy Paloma Picasso, 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 Tiffany's other defining designers, see our guides to Elsa Peretti and Jean Schlumberger, and for the house's wider history our piece on the Tiffany Setting. You may also be interested in vintage jewellery.

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