Donald Clafin, an American-born jewellery designer, joined Tifany & Co.In 1965 and three years later he was asked to design the entire Tanzanite collection, then being widely promoted by the company. Clafin’s most important commission for Tifany & Co. came in 1970, when he designed a new Tifany setting in which the diamond centre stone is set in the cross of two intersecting bands of precious metal. Along with Jean Schlumberger, he led the way towards a new sophisticated jewellery that other designers were
quick to emulate. Following his highly successful years with Tifany & Co. Donald Clafin became a major designer for Bulgari. His untimely death in 1979 left a serious gap in the ranks of imaginative and productive American jewellery designers.