The necklace made its debut on the pages of Town & Country in 1962.

Jewelry ambition visible: Dua Lipa in a Tiffany & Co. golden beryl necklace from 1962.

The ambition is clear in the unusual colored stones, and in the choice of a rarely seen archival piece—one that speaks history. It tells of the impact the 1940s and the war had on jewelry for the next few decades: the yellow gold that dominated jewelry of this period is a continuation of the trend for yellow gold, one that arose out of the ban on platinum for anything outside of war efforts; the golden beryl, part of the palette of “semi-precious” stones jewelers turned to when closed borders and trade routes during the war forced them to improvise; the beryl, also part of Tiffany & Co. history of stone daring—the house pioneered and named stones like kunzite, morganite, tanzanite, and tsavorite.

Emerald and aqua are varieties of beryl that have been known for centuries, but this necklace’s golden variety was first spotted at the beginning of the 20th. We also see the shift between the industrial toughness of the 1940s retro period—oversized chunky cuffs inspired by everything from tanks to engines and artillery—into the more elegant cocktail culture of the 1950s. I mean, those beryls on the end look like they want to dance.

This necklace also speaks to some history of our own—it was featured prominently in a spread on the season’s most impressive jewelry in the December 1962 issue of T&C (above). There was also an ad for it circulating that year: