Netizens blast Tiffany & Co, Pharrell Williams for copying Mughal spectacles, ask ‘where’s the credit?’

Tiffany & Co, the luxury jewellery brand, and American rapper Pharrell Williams are in the news and not for good reasons. Recently, the musician attended French luxury fashion house Kenzo’s show in Paris wearing a pair of custom-designed Tiffany & Co glittering diamond sunglasses. However, netizens were quick to notice that the sunglasses were a copy of a set of extraordinarily rare Mughal spectacles. 

The internet immediately pointed out the likeness between the two pieces and blasted the jewellery label for not giving credit where it is due. Diet Prada, a fashion watchdog group, also called them out in a scathing Instagram post.

On Sunday, Kenzo unveiled the debut collection of its first Japanese designer, Nigo, since house founder Kenzo Takada. Apart from Kanye West and Julia Fox, the star-studded front row also featured Pharrell Williams. The musician debuted the Tiffany glasses at the show and hinted at his collaboration with the brand. “Tiffany and I are engaged,” the singer told WWD.

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Later, the Instagram page of Tiffany posted Pharrell’s picture wearing the “custom-designed” sunglasses in 18k gold featuring “61 round brilliant diamonds of over 25 total carats and two emerald-cut emeralds”.

The post instantly went viral, with the internet calling out the brand and the musician for blatantly copying the rare Mughal spectacles dating back to the 17th century.

Diet Sabya, the Indian fashion watchdog, wrote in the comments section, “THE SHEER AUDACITY TO COPY THIS MUGHAL PIECE.” A user commented, “‘custom-designed’ or custom-copied?” Another wrote, “custom? where’s the credit to Mughal Era -17th century India?”

See some of the comments:

In October 2021, the original frames were placed on auction. They expected to fetch as much as 2.5M GBP. But they didn’t sell. They belonged to the Mughal Royals, according to Sotheby’s. One of the frames features a pair of teardrop-shaped lenses cut from a Colombian emerald over 300 carats. The other has been “cleaved from a 200-carat diamond found in Golconda, a region in the present-day Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.”

Additionally, according to Sotheby’s chairman Edward Gibbs, the spectacles are not meant to improve sight. They help the wearer reach enlightenment, ward off evil, and were prized for their spiritual associations. “As far as we know, there are no others like them,” Gibbs told CNN.