Steel Yourself--Tiffany’s Integrity Still Spotless in Stainless

So here we are, 20 st ories above Newport Beach in the Presidential Suite of the Four Seasons Hotel, enjoying a little gathering in honor of John Loring, design director of Tiffany & Co.

Loring has just told us something rather astonishing: Stainless steel is hot at the company where Holly Golightly did breakfast.

After years of thinking platinum, gold and silver were the only metals worth breaking the piggy bank for, Tiffany has gone and created a stainless collection to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of its New York store. We like it, but would we be caught dead in it?

SHE: I’m a fool for gold--love the way it looks and feels. Stainless has always seemed cold to me and, before I saw the “Streamerica Collection” of watches, I wondered if I’d ever trade my gold watch for one made out of the same material as my pots and pans.

Why stainless steel when you’ve got gold and silver? “It’s modernist,” Loring said. “The metal of the 20th Century. A person who wears stainless is self-assured, strong, sensual and modern.”

HE: People who don’t think they like stainless steel ought to take a second look at the Plaza Tower, that big silvery high-rise near the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. That’s what the exterior is made of. When it was being built, there was a boardwalk built over the sidewalk, and it was painted with quotes from the architect about his preference for the material. Smooth and velvety, with lots of texture, he said.

I agree. When I was shopping years ago for the dress watch I have now, I was determined to have a gold one until I saw the one with the stainless steel case and band inlaid with little gold strips. With its square black face and gold Roman numerals, it was a good bit more dramatic than your basic second-mortgage Rolex, and I still had enough money left over for cab fare.

SHE: Well, now I’m turning 20 shades of red. I’d forgotten--not only have I worn stainless, I’ve worn fake stainless! Years ago, when the stainless Rolex became popular, I bought one of those faux ones--you know, the model with the second hand that does the rumba.

I felt so smart in it. Then, my husband decided he needed a real Rolex. So, he got me one so he wouldn’t feel guilty about his (sound familiar?). I loved it because it was real steel. I asked Loring if a guy should wear his Streamerica World Time watch with black tie, and he said “indeed.”

White tie? “That would be pushing it a bit,” he said. “White tie demands a thin gold evening watch.”

HE: Heck, buy the thing! Who wears a white tie any more, unless you’re a doorman or a professional classical musician or you’re on the A-list for embassy balls? I thought it looked pretty swell. The rivets give it that indestructible quality and put you in mind of a locomotive boiler, for those of you who like your accessories to be bullet-proof.

I’ll grant you, Tiffany’s new line wasn’t exactly wispy and feminine, but it had drama to burn. I’d push, God help me, my dictionary and Bartlett’s off my desk to make room for that Trylon-and-Perisphere ashtray and letter opener combo. Imagine running across stuff like that during the opening camera shot from “Masterpiece Theatre.”

SHE: Loring said the watches were unisex. I’d wear one, for sure, when I was traveling (this $3,800 number keeps time in 24 cities).

I get a kick out of the history of the Tiffany timepieces. For instance, did you know that, in 1922, Tiffany & Co. designed a custom pocket watch for Harry Houdini? The enameled and diamond-studded timepiece is accented with a chain of miniature gold handcuffs.

Tiffany was also commissioned to create a custom watch for Kareem Abdul Jabbar when he retired from the Lakers. His team number “33” was embossed on the dial.

But back to Streamerica. Tiffany took the collection’s design very seriously--modeling the letter opener ($175) after the Trylon obelisk of the 1939 World’s Fair and an inkwell ($395) after the curvy turbines of Hoover Dam. Great holiday gift ideas.

HE: Yes, indeed, marvelous stocking stuffers around the Trump and Kuwaiti royal family households.

Actually, I don’t mind that stuff being priced in the lower ionosphere, as long as Tiffany doesn’t get the idea that I’m going to charge into their store and buy the entire line in one big gulp. Stuff like that should be thought of as nearly unique and pretty heavily freighted with meaning.

For instance, if someone gave me that “dynamo” ashtray, I’d feel obliged to flick nothing less than the ashes from $15 cigars into it. It’s not like finding a gift certificate for an order of large fries in your stocking. You’re supposed to cherish things like that.

It’s the sort of merchandise that causes light bulbs to snap on above people’s heads. Many people might see it all as appearing too sterile and mechanized, but there’s that one-in-several person out there who notices that Perisphere letter opener and can see it nowhere else but on his or her sweetie’s desk. It’s supposed to be a keepsake.

Of course, you’d better believe that I’d have that fries certificate perma-plaqued if Kirstie Alley’s signature was on it.