how to start building your elsa peretti jewelry collection
from the bean to the bone, a guide to peretti's most legendary designs—and 25 curated pieces to shop secondhand.
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“I design for the working girl,” Elsa Peretti said in a 1974 interview with People magazine shortly after her launch party at Tiffany.1
This statement may be hard to believe in 2025, when the smallest Peretti Bone Cuff from Tiffany will cost you $1700—a month of rent in many places.
But in the context of the 70s, Peretti’s philosophy to jewelry was something of a radical proposition. She was not interested in selling status symbols. Rather, she wanted to give “beauty at a price.” Beauty was very important to her.
The cultural attitude towards silver jewelry was vastly different back then. When Peretti started designing, silver was considered a humdrum, ordinary material. Fine jewelers stuck to gold and precious metals—this was their definition of luxury. Up until Peretti’s inaugural collection, Tiffany had not carried silver jewelry since the Great Depression.
Silver was nothing special.
So you see now, why Peretti is a legend.
She shifted the cultural paradigm towards silver through her biomorphic, sculptural designs. Her pieces were intended to be worn with ease for the everyday, rather than precious things tucked away save for special occasions. By hiring Peretti as a designer, Tiffany launched “affordable” fine silver jewelry (I put that in quotes because the starting price of $89 is equivalent to $500+ today) that appealed to economically-crunched consumers.2 Considering fast fashion and instant gratification culture didn’t exist on the scale it does now, I suppose a working girl in the 70s could reasonably save up $500 over the course of months of a year to buy herself a Peretti necklace as a birthday present.
In 2021, Peretti died in her sleep at home (this is how I’d want to go), but her legacy and impact on jewelry lives on. I feel her ghost whenever I see silver jewelry with curved lines and organic shapes.
For example, Madewell now has a *$58 cuff that’s obviously inspired by the bone cuff (it’s made of brass, not sterling silver). There’s AGMES, whose *wishbone necklace strings a silk cord through a U-shaped biomorphic pendant. (Peretti was famously inspired by human and animal bones). Or newcomer brand Heaven Mayhem, whose *silver bean shaped necklaces have been spotted on many a fashion girlie’s neck in recent months.
1/17 update: I went to try the Madewell cuff in person. It doesn’t have the same weight and polish as silver, and isn’t easily adjustable—but it’s a pretty nice shape.
Point is, her influence is inescapable, and her pieces are timeless.
I have three Elsa Peretti pieces in my jewelry collection, and they are so special to me.
You guys have probably seen the bean necklaces because I’ve worn them a lot over the years. To me, three is a good collection because I adore every item—I don’t want to collect just to collect, you know?
In total, I spent ~$450. Everything was secondhand, and I also just got very lucky with good deals and timing (like…the Halston perfume bean locket was $140 on RubyLane in 2021, compared to the $700+ listings now…wtf?!).
This is a guide to starting your very own Peretti collection, broken down by my favorite signature shapes—from the bean to the bone.
It includes 25 pieces I found across a variety of secondhand sites, ranging from $32 - $521 (that’s the bone cuff, guys).
Price-wise, the teardrop and open-heart designs are the lowest entry point into her designs.
Let’s get into it!
Silver Bean Necklace
After Peretti’s passing, Hollywood’s premiere cool girl stylist Danielle Goldberg shared a photo of her Peretti jewelry on Instagram with this caption:
“forever favorite. #elsaperetti important to note my first email address was bean711@aol.com because of my beloved kidney bean necklace by elsa peretti.”3
So if you don’t know where to begin, may I suggest the classic silver bean? Here’s why I think it’s the best starter piece:
It’s just so classic. It’s the bean!!!!
It’s wearable. Sure, this might not be the most visually striking piece of jewelry, but it’s easy to wear and not fuss over.
There are loads of these online and come in a wide range of variations—some are chunkier, some have thicker chains, some are smaller some are bigger. You can pick one that speaks to you.
Here are a nine good ones I found in my search: