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BALL OF FIRE

TIFFANY & CO’S GLAMOUR AT BLUE BOOK BALL FOR GATSBY FILM TIE-IN

What a perfect alliance. Recently, Tiffany & Co. had a Jazz Age moment at the Blue Book Ball as the Roaring Twenties came to life in Manhattan for a party more swell than most.

Dazzling with 1920’s sparkle, The Great Gatsby-era returned for one evening as the esteemed jeweler hosted the Blue Book Ball that coincided with the launch of the soon-to-be released film. The champagne-laden event was held in honor of the 2013 Blue Book Collection of Tiffany’s chic jewels that were inspired by the Jazz Age that transformed the world’s fashion and culture.

Long revered since before the actual 1920’s, Tiffany designed the jewels that epitomized glamour and lit up divine Manhattan supper clubs. According to the good people at Tiffany’s, “Blue Book overflows with diamonds reflecting the opulent fashion and surge of creative energy that defined the period. The sheer exuberance of this magical moment in American life pervaded Rockefeller Center®, scene of the Blue Book Ball that took place within a 31-foot-high Tiffany Blue Box® covering the center’s famous 15,000-square-foot ice rink.”

We’re not sure it gets much better than that. Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co., said, “The Jazz Age was a time of great energy and creativity. So it is with pleasure and gratitude that we celebrate this memorable chapter in American life, in the city where it all began—and with our diamonds that are still the world’s most beautiful.”

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What a night it was. The approximately 400 guests included celebrities and notables Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Jessica Biel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Carina Lau, Michelle Williams, Alice Eve, Poppy Delevingne, Peter and Harry Brant, Doutzen Kroes and Hilary Rhoda; along with Carey Mulligan (star of the upcoming filmThe Great Gatsby), Baz Luhrmann (director, producer, and co-writer of The Great Gatsby) and Catherine Martin (costume and production designer of The Great Gatsby who was responsible for the film’s exacting period look). Guests disembarked at Fifth Avenue and proceeded along the promenade, which was bathed in Tiffany Blue, toward a beribboned entrance to an elegant supper club tailor-made for Jazz Age revelry. Stunning.

Of course, the seamless Art Deco setting, designed in a palette of chic gray tones, was lined with luxurious velvet drapes and laid with carpeting in a striking starburst pattern. At the floor’s center, a towering tribute to the bubbly rose toward the ceiling on mirrored risers, with 240 glasses and 142 magnums of Moet & Chandon Imperial champagne (our favorite). Surrounding it were elegant lounges and banquettes arranged for dining in the style of a supper-club buffet, served amid lavish arrangements of white flowers. And trays of iPads for posting images on social media circulated like the cigarette trays of a previous era, cigarette girls and all.

We love that showcased in custom-designed vitrines were jewels from the 2013 Blue Book Collection that reflect Tiffany’s legacy of Art Deco design. Among them were diamond necklaces and drop earrings shimmering like silk and champagne or contoured in homage to the city’s Deco skyscrapers; platinum and diamond bracelets set in the rhythmic patterns of a jazz composition or with great diamond fans unfolding on black enamel; a corsage suite of voluptuous diamond flowers; and the rarest fancy color diamonds—pink, orange, blue and green. Gemstones Tiffany introduced to the world, including green tsavorite, pink morganite, lilac-pink kunzite and blue-violet tanzanite punctuated jewels of great length and movement; and Montana sapphires and luxuriant turquoise highlighted Deco’s geometric precision.

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As you can imagine. the bronze-gilded statue of the Greek Titan Prometheus, a fixture of Rockefeller Center, served as backdrop to the stage and a full-scale, 20s-style revue. Backed by an orchestra, dancers in fringed and spangled “ flapper” costumes reprised classic songs (Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend), complete with raucous renditions of the Lindy and Charleston, and current pop hits (Rihanna’s Diamonds), followed by Broadway singer Megan Hilty belting out more classic American standards from era. The singer led the finale, accompanied by aerialists that descended from above, trailing feathered headdresses and dancing in mid-air. On cue, a blizzard of silvery fine confetti brought down the curtain on a simply fabulous evening. But, of course. Why wouldn’t it?

Our wonderful pal. Maggi Jones, who represents Tiffany & Co. in the Texas region for public relations, included us to join in the party fun as it continued, so we are most appreciative. For more information on Tiffany & Co, at it’s Blue Book collection of jewels, visit www.tiffany.com

( Images Courtesy of Getty Images/Wire Image except where otherwise noted)