Tiffany celebrate their 175th Anniversary with a new collection "Rubedo"

175 years of trading is a pretty significant benchmark in the trading history of any established business, to have weathered the storm of financial crash after financial crash, boom and bust, lean years and some two world wars, is something to be very proud of, and to celebrate such an achievement should require more than merely some 175 year themed product release.

For Tiffany's 175th Anniversary they have done just that, no mere collection of attractive items have they released, rather they have spent many hours in the R&D labs and actually invented a completely new metal, the name for this new alloy, is the name of the collection "Rubedo".

This new Metal, which utilises a process that Tiffany have developed in secret, and have no intention of sharing, is a gold alloy, which has the soft tones of gold, yet is as malleable as Silver, in essence, what Tiffany have produced, in a groundbreaking and rather stunning way is, an extra option, no longer are you restricted to simply choosing "Gold" or "Silver" or "Tu Tone" there is a middle way, an alloy which has the benefits and attractions of both, and as an extra bonus, has a price point lower than that of Gold.

The Name Rubedo to any scholar of antiquity will raise a smile in relation to this collection, it is the title in the ancient Philosophy of Alchemy, of the very highest achievment, from the Latin "redness" it defined the fourth and final stage of alchemical excellence, and was associated particularly with the formation of Gold from other matter, an allusion to the creation the Tiffany have made here.

The Metal itself is smooth to the touch, and is a soft pink gold colour, it reminds of Rose Gold rather than ordinary Yellow Gold, in fact without any prior knowledge of the material, you would assume it is exactly that.  All items that are made from this material will be stamped with the name of the collection from which they come, in the case of the debut collection "1837 RUBEDO", the Tiffany branding, and again in the case of this debut collection, the signature of Charles Lewis Tiffany to mark the anniversary, they cannot be hallmarked, as assay offices can only stamp pure metals, a downside some might say of this new material.

As for this small collection, we have a Ring, a Bangle, a necklace, a bangle, not pictured here, a pendant and a lock which can be either affixed to something else, or go as a charm for another bracelet, reffereing again to the prices, an example of the diference between this new alloy and solid gold can be found with the bangle, a solid gold version would cost in the region of £1200 - £1400, in the new Rubedo metal, it is only £900.

The collection will be available to buy at Tiffany Boutiques and from Tiffanys online stores from March.