Taffin

It is safe to say that Taffin is everything one might expect and nothing like one could possibly have imagined. The design prowess of James Taffin de Givenchy resides in a place where there are few inhabitants. Having completed this epic monograph, the reader could conceivably have conjured thoughts of JAR, Van Cleef, Codignato, Hemmerle, Bulgari, Verdura, Belperron, and more, but these are names and brands that have been only jumping off points. Upon reviewing and examining each of the pieces, it is evident that they are only very distant cousins of those brands “related by a mere droplet of blood.”

Without equivocation, Taffin is a stand-alone book of its genre that befits the designer whose esthetic is so fiercely independent and creatively distinct that the talent and output is nothing short of seismic. The brand is sort of a well kept open secret known only to the cognoscenti of jewelry collectors and yet, the array of astounding pieces is testament to why cream always rises to the top. In the end extreme talent will always triumph.

The execution and physicality of the book measures up to its content in every way. The photography and even the page layouts are distinctly owned by this designer. Taffin is the purveyor and designer of haute joallier as well as jewelry to be worn every day and objects that would be considered no less than treasures.

If you know someone who truly appreciates and maybe even covets extraordinary jewelry that stretches beyond the expected then this is a book that will prove memorable on many levels. Consider Taffin a visual treatise of individual style laced with the humanity and humility of the designer’s words.