See Tiffany & Co.’s Most Captivating Holiday Window Displays

The oversize, hand-bound monograph. Photo: Courtesy of Assouline

Jewelry windows generally follow a formula, but not at Tiffany & Co. Its intimate, small-scale windows at the Fifth Avenue flagship have lured many a shopper—including its most famous fictional fan, Holly Golightly—with their witty, inimitable creations. “The opening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s is such an iconic scene,” explains Richard Moore, the brand’s VP of global store design and creative visual merchandising. “People come from all over the world for that moment, and I hope they’re not disappointed.”

Theatricality in Tiffany displays actually goes back to the house’s inception, when founder Charles Lewis Tiffany installed a guardrail outside the window. In the 1950s, window display artist Gene Moore transformed Fifth Avenue retail with his magical inventions, collaborating with painters Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Robert Rauschenberg—the latter of whom once joked, “Moore noticed me before Leo Castelli did.” Richard Moore and Charles Young now dream up the witty windows, and the sketches for their vignettes are just as carefully guarded in the Tiffany archive as the jewels.

This window collaboration with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, which featured pieces from the brand’s Great Gatsby collection, such as the Savoy diamond and freshwater pearl headpiece. Photo: Ricky Zehavi

In time for the holidays (and holiday windows), a new collectible book entitled Windows at Tiffany & Co. (Assouline, $845) celebrates the highlights of these imaginative feats—such as a window inspired by The Great Gatsby, created by filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin and bubbling over with glamour.

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Peppered with quotes from famous Tiffany fans—from Lady Gaga to Bob Colacello—the special Assouline Ultimate Collection volume includes images of the most beloved windows, hand-tipped illustrations, and never-seen-before sketches. And naturally, the covetable keepsake comes encased in its very own blue box.

A Diamond Iceberg, Holiday, 2016. Truman Capote once described Manhattan as “A diamond iceberg floating in river water,” and this window pays homage to the glamour and the majesty of New York City. Photo: Ricky Zehavi

Neon, Valentine’s Day, 2016. Photo: Ricky Zehavi

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2018 Winter Issue under the headline Window Watchers. Subscribe to the magazine.