The inspiration for BIG BLING came from an experience I had while working as an art director for in-house publications at Tiffany and Co. – a Cinderella moment to be sure.

From a cubicle in the legendary Fifth Avenue store, I engaged in a daily adventure of designing layouts and directing photography for all manner of majorly amazing BLING.

The merchandising department would literally roll up a cart loaded with jewelry, watches, silver, crystal, etc. and our job was to artfully and tastefully (per the Tiffany brand), present the stunning items in the printed media. On any given day, I could easily have tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry clumped into plastic bags on my desk. (Yes, of course I tried it all on.)

One day while we were working on a catalogue for a collection of estate jewelry, I received a call.  The Powers-That-Be wanted the Tiffany Diamond on the cover of the catalogue.

I’m all, “Great! … Can do! … Let’s look at the photos we have on file and decide which one to use.”

No. The Powers-That-Be wanted a new photograph taken.

!!! !!! (That’s me flipping out in my cubicle.)

In order to take the shot, the large, incredibly rare, fancy yellow, cushion-cut diamond, valued at the time at over $12 million, had to be moved from its armored display case on the store’s main floor to the in-house photography studio elsewhere in the building. Needless to say, tight transport logistics on this priceless gem were a must, lest some butter-fingered art director bobble the bauble in a stairwell somewhere. Suffice it to say that armed guards, helicopters, and copious amounts of insurance were involved.

Once in the studio, two highly skilled staff photographers attended to the gem with the precision of a team of neurosurgeons. They anchored the stone on set with a tiny bead of wax and began, in a subdued, meticulous manner, to reflect light at various angles into the facets of the stone using silver, white and black cards.

In a situation where we’re basically shooting a straight-on view of a single stone, the role of the art director is to observe the proceedings, check the Polaroids (I’m old), and say, “Yep, there it is, … looks good.”

In a situation where there’s a 128-carat diamond in the room, it is also the role of the art director to say, “Hey, can I hold that thing in the palm of my hand before the clock strikes midnight and you guys both turn back into field mice?”

So, right then and there, I held the Tiffany Diamond, one of the world’s most famous and magnificent gems, in the palm of my hand.

And I never forgot it.

That’s what BIG BLING is all about. It’s not about money or wealth or hip-hop, or even Tiffany. BIG BLING is a piece of art. It’s about beauty and color and the way light reflects in the facets of a precisely cut stone — like sunlight dancing on water. It’s a way to capture that fleeting amazing sparkly moment — and share it.

Post Note: If you’re ever in NYC, take a quick trip to the Tiffany and Company flagship store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street (you can’t miss it). Go through the main door and over to your left against the wall is a small window onto a vaulted case – take a deep breath and behold the sparkliness.

So, … back to sweeping cinders out of the hearth for me.