Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany and Co.

Company type	Public (NYSE: TIF)
Industry	Jewellers and silversmiths
Founded	September 18, 1837, in New York City, New York
Founder	John B. Young Charles Lewis Tiffany
Headquarters	New York City, New York United States
Key people	Michael J. Kowalski, Chairman & CEO James E. Quinn, President Charles Lewis Tiffany, Founder John B. Young, Founder
Products	Diamonds Jewelry Tableware Gifts and Accessories Silver items
Revenue	$2.938 billion USD (2007)
Number of employees	7,000 (12/31/2004)
Website	www.tiffany.com

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is a U.S. jewelry and silverware company founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City in 1837 as a "stationery and fancy goods emporium."

The store initially sold a wide variety of stationery items, and operated as Tiffany, Young and Ellis in lower Manhattan. The name was shortened to Tiffany & Co in 1853 when Charles Tiffany took control, and the firm's emphasis on jewelry was established. Tiffany & Co. has since opened stores in major cities all over the world. At some point, it was acquired by Philadelphia-based investment company Bankers Securities Corporation.

As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue color, which is a registered trademark.

History

Tiffany and Company has been in business since 1837, when co-founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and his partner John B. Young opened a small stationery and "fancy goods" shop in the first floor of a lower Broadway residence. Tiffany was only 25 at the time. Born on February 15, 1812, in Killingly, Conn., he attended common schools, spent 2 years at a private academy in Plainfield, and at age 15 took charge of a general store owned by his father, a textile manufacturer. He would later reject, at least temporarily, an opportunity to enter into partnership with his father, deciding instead to borrow money from him and yo travel to New York with Young.

Early retail ventures

19th Century Tiffany & Co. Pitcher. Circa 1871. Pitcher

From the beginning Tiffany and Young stocked unusual items: Chinese goods, Japanese paper mache & terra cotta ware, umbrellas, fans, fine stationery and pottery. Sales began slowly, but Tiffany proved a talented advertiser and merchandiser. By 1839 the two entrepreneurs had moved to a larger space next door and begun to sell mostly glassware, clocks, and jewelry. About this same time, a period in which merchandise in most stores went unmarked and was sold generally at the highest price the customer would pay, Tiffany and Young adopted the one-price system. Their business continued to grow, and in l84l Tiffany married Young's sister, Harriet Olivia, and the firm took a third partner, J. L. Ellis. That same year Young made the first company trip to Europe, to buy porcelain, cutlery, clocks, and jewelry. He brought back and successfully marketed jewelry made with false diamonds, leading Tiffany to believe that the store could enjoy the same success with real stones. By 1845 Tiffany and Young offered only genuine diamonds and other goods that Tiffany considered high in quality.

The next few years were perhaps even more decisive in the firm's future. In 1847 the partners moved their store once again and published the company's first annual catalog. Besides jewelry, clocks, and stationery, it listed chessmen, tea sets, dinner sets, cuspidors, bronzes, French furniture, parasols, and fancy garters. Tiffany, Young, and Ellis first attracted national attention in 1848. Accompanied by his assistant, Thomas Banks, Young traveled to Europe on another buying junket and reached France just in time for the revolution against Louis Philippe. With members of the French nobility anxious during the ensuing economic chaos to trade their diamonds for ready cash, Young and Banks invested all their funds in the gems and returned to the United States with merchandise that included Marie Antoinette's bejeweled girdle and other pieces that formerly belonged to the French crown. Upon their arrival Charles Tiffany encouraged the press in its excited coverage of the event, and soon he became known as the "King of Diamonds." He and his partners now opened a branch store in Paris, and it grew as rapidly as the one in New York.

By 1850 California gold had begun to arrive in New York, and Tiffany, Young, and Ellis was ready with merchandise for the newly rich. The firm gave special attention to items of sterling silver and exerted a lasting impact upon the manner and quality of their manufacture in the United States. About this same time Tiffany and Moore developed a mass production method of shaping basic silver items, but their finishing work continued to be done by hand. The firm still uses the Tiffany-Moore technique.

Tiffany and Co.

In 1853 Young and Ellis left the company, and Tiffany and Gideon Reed changed its name to Tiffany and Company. They also moved the store to new quarters at 550 Broadway, where they installed "Atlas," a 9-foot-high figure carved by Henry Frederick Metzler, to bear the store's master clock. "Atlas" and his clock became a Tiffany symbol, and have adorned every subsequent Tiffany store in New York, including the present one at 5th Avenue and 57th Street. Through the firm's Paris office Charles Tiffany obtained models of armaments from the French Army and the leading manufacturers of Europe, and then he produced and sold military swords, guns, and other supplies. Especially popular were Tiffany's commemorative swords, which his craftsmen turned out by the hundreds. Two particularly well-designed ones went to Gen. Ulysses Grant and Adm. David Farragut, winners of a most-popular-officer contest that Tiffany and Company sponsored to raise money for the New York Sanitary Commission. When the war ended, Charles Tiffany launched construction of a new store building at Union Square and 15th Street, and in 1868 his firm merged with John Chandler Moore's Silverware Company. The name Tiffany and Company was retained, and Tiffany became the first president. Over the next two decades the firm earned an international reputation in design.

Fame

A Tiffany's Christmas advertisement from the New York Times in 1891

At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, his merchandise won the gold metal, and 2 years later at the Paris Exposition he took the grand prize for silver and a gold metal for jewelry. Afterward he received the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor from France and the Pramia Digna, a gold metal of honor, from Russia. Soon Tiffany and Company's list of customers included the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Leopold, and the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia. In 1883 the firm was designated jeweler to Queen Victoria, and within a year similar appointments followed from the Czar and Czarina, the Emporer of Austria, the kings of Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Rumania, the Khedive of Egypt, and the Shah of Persia.

Tiffany designs were worn by such famous US families as the Astors, the Vanderbilts, Posts, Huttons and the Morgans, and American athletes and movie stars as well. Museums valued the Tiffany designs, which ranged from the Art Nouveau period to Art Deco to today's modern styles.

Additional fame accrued to Tiffany and Company as a result of the work of George Frederick Kunz, a mineralogist who joined the firm in 1879. Kunz traveled throughout the world in search of gems for Tiffany, as well as for private collector J. Pierpont Morgan, the Metropolitan Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History. By the early 20th century Kunz had written numerous books about minerals and become widely acknowledged as dean of the world's gem experts. His discoveries included tiffanyite and morganite, which he named for his chief supporters. His own name is attached to kunzite. Clearly, by the l880's Tiffany and Company had become the most famous jewelry store in the world. The Tiffany Diamond, found in the Kimberly mines of South Africa in 1877, attracted global attention, and the Tiffany ring setting gained wide popularity in the United States. In 1883 and again in 1887 Tiffany and Company purchased several auction lots of French crown jewels, and for years the firm's annual diamond sales totaled more than $6 million. Sales of pearls, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires accounted for at least that much more. This was the "Gilded Age" in America, and Tiffany and Company both encouraged and helped enable the rich to showcase their wealth.

Management

Charles Tiffany was the first and last Tiffany to head the firm. When he died of pneumonia on February 18, 1902, vice president Charles T. Cook succeeded him. Before his death Tiffany had launched plans for a new store and selected architects McKim, Mead, and White to design it. Cook carried the plan forward, and in 1905 the company moved into a palace-like building at the corner of 5th Avenue and 37th Street. During the next two decades Tiffany and Company operated on its usual grand scale, but in 1930 the firm fell victim to the Great Depression and lost money for the first time. Although losses continued to plague the company through the ensuing decade, the directors decided in 1937 to invest in a new building still farther uptown. Three years later Tiffany and Company moved into its present headquarters, a seven-story, granite and limestone structure with little ornamentation. The firm fared better in the mid-1940's, showing a profit of just over $1 million in 1946, but by 1949 earnings dropped below $20,000.

In 1955 several entrepreneurs competed for control of Tiffany and Company, and Walter Hoving, president of Hoving Corporation, proved the winner. During the next 15 years he completely revitalized the firm by opening branches in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Chicago, and Houston; starting a trophy design department; buying French-born Jean Schlumberger's business and bringing him to work for Tiffany and Company; employing Van Day Treuex, formerly president of the Parson School of Design, to oversee the china and silver departments; and stepping up promotion. Today Tiffany and Company is once again a pace-setter in American design.

Tiffany designs were worn by such famous US families as the Astors, the Vanderbilts, Posts, Huttons and the Morgans, and American athletes and movie stars as well. Museums valued the Tiffany designs, which ranged from the Art Nouveau period to Art Deco to today's modern styles.

Additional fame accrued to Tiffany and Company as a result of the work of George Frederick Kunz, a mineralogist who joined the firm in 1879. Kunz traveled throughout the world in search of gems for Tiffany, as well as for private collector J. Pierpont Morgan, the Metropolitan Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History. By the early 20th century Kunz had written numerous books about minerals and become widely acknowledged as dean of the world's gem experts. His discoveries included tiffanyite and morganite, which he named for his chief supporters. His own name is attached to kunzite. Clearly, by the l880's Tiffany and Company had become the most famous jewelry store in the world. The Tiffany Diamond, found in the Kimberly mines of South Africa in 1877, attracted global attention, and the Tiffany ring setting gained wide popularity in the United States. In 1883 and again in 1887 Tiffany and Company purchased several auction lots of French crown jewels, and for years the firm's annual diamond sales totaled more than $6 million. Sales of pearls, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires accounted for at least that much more. This was the "Gilded Age" in America, and Tiffany and Company both encouraged and helped enable the rich to showcase their wealth.

Iridesse

In 2004 Tiffany & Co. created spin off chain Iridesse dedicated to pearl-only jewelry. Tiffany & Co. operated 16 stores in FL, NJ, NY, PA, CA, IL, MA, and VA. The chain operated at a loss since its founding and the company announced in early 2009 that it would discontinue Iridesse due to the economic climate of the time, despite reportedly still believing in the concept.

Locations

Tiffany and Co.'s flagship store in New York City.

Tiffany's flagship store (since 1940) is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The former Tiffany and Company Building on 38th Street is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The polished granite exterior is well known for its tiny window displays. The store has been the location for a number of films including Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn, and Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon.

The 128.54 carats (25.708 g) Fancy Yellow Tiffany Diamond is usually on display in the New York City flagship store.

As of January 31, 2007, the Company operated 64 Tiffany & Co. stores in the U.S., which totaled approximately 486,000 gross square feet, and 103 Tiffany & Co. international stores, which totaled approximately 306,000 gross square feet.

When it opened in 1990, the Tiffany & Co. store at Fairfax Square in Tysons Corner, VA became the largest outside of New York with 14,500 sq ft (1,350 m²) of retail space.

Tiffany & Co. reported in 2006 that its location at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA was its most profitable location followed by its New York City flagship, Boston Copley Place, and Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu.

Tiffany & Co. has announced its second store opening in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on September 2007, coinciding with the shopping mall opening. The store has 1,700 sq ft (160 m²). retail space and features the same decor elements as its New York flagship. Recently opened stores in the United States include one at The Natick Collection in Natick, MA which opened in September 2007, Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, and at the Providence Place mall in Providence, R.I., both opened in November 2007. There is a Tiffany store in Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport which opened at the end of March 2008 and a store in the Westfield London shopping centre in Sheperd's Bush. A store was opened at 37 King Street, Perth, Western Australia, on July 24, 2008.

Tiffany & Co. are set to open their flagship Irish store on Dublin's Grafton Street in October 2008. It will be the biggest of the group's European outlets. In October 2008, Tiffany's opened a store in Madrid, Spain, and brought the Tiffany Diamond to the opening.

Tiffany & Co. in popular culture

Marilyn Monroe performing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Diamonds on display in a Tiffany's store in Beverly Hills

• In the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, the title of which is a reference to the shop, by journalist and writer Truman Capote, one of the protagonists, Holly Golightly, constantly refers to the jewelry shop as "the best place in the world, where nothing bad can take place." The iconic 1961 film of the same name was based on Capote's novella.
• Summer at Tiffany, a 2007 memoir by Marjorie Hart, details her experiences as one of the first two female floor employees at Tiffany during the summer of 1945. The book is full of Hart's brushes with celebrities of the era, and other late WWII events in New York City.
• In the 1948 movie Ladies of the Chorus, Tiffany's is mentioned in the song "Every Baby Needs a Da-Da-Daddy", which is sung by Marilyn Monroe.
• Eartha Kitt's classic Christmas song "Santa Baby" mentions purchasing decorations at Tiffany's.
• In the New York Times best-selling series, The Clique, the ninth novel is called Bratfest at Tiffany's, a play on the movie and novella mentioned above, as well as the company itself. The main characters wear Tiffany & Co. bracelets in the book.
• In the T.V. series "Ugly Betty" one of the main characters Daniel Meade is shown to have been shopping for Tiffany jewelry for various women.
• In the popular T.V. series Gossip Girl one of the main characters Blair Waldorf is a fan of Audrey Hepburn movies and Blair has a dream which is a reference to Breakfast at Tiffany's in the episode "Bad News Blair". In the episode "Seventeen Candles" Chuck gives Blair a diamond necklace for her birthday. Because of Blair's love of Audrey Hepburn, there is a misconception that the diamond necklace is from Tiffany's. However, in the show Blair mentioned that the necklace was from Erickson Beamon.
• In the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe, she sings the song "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", which mentions Tiffany's twice.
• In the movie Legally Blonde and its sequel, the protagonist Elle Woods wears a heart necklace from Tiffany's. In The Search for Elle Woods, for Legally Blonde: The Musical, the "Elles" were each presented with a replica necklace.
• The first American Bond girl, Tiffany Case, was named after Tiffany & Co.

Dates of interest

• The first Tiffany catalog, known as the "Blue Book", was published in 1845. It is still being published today.
• In 1862 Tiffany & Co. supplied the Union Army with swords, flags and surgical implements.
• In 1867 Tiffany & Co. was the first U.S. firm to win an award for the excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
• In 1877, an insignia that would become the famous New York Yankees "NY" logo was struck on a medal of honor by Tiffany & Co. and issued to the first NYC police officer shot in the line of duty. The Yankees adopted the logo in 1909.
• The company revised the Great Seal of the United States in 1885.
• In 1968, U.S. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson commissioned Tiffany to design a White House china service, which featured 90 flowers.
• In June 2004, the jeweler Tiffany & Co. sued eBay, claiming that eBay profits from the sale of counterfeit Tiffany products. As of July 2006, a trial date has not been set.
• On January 28, 2008, it was announced that the Japanese mobile phone operator SoftBank and Tiffany & Co. had collaborated in making a limited 10 model-only cellphone. This cellphone contains more than 400 diamonds, totaling more than 20 carats. The cost is said to be more than 100,000,000 yen.

Gallery

• 
  Within International Plaza and Bay Street in Tampa
• 
  On Bloor Street in Toronto
• 
  West Coast flagship at Union Square in San Francisco
• 
  The Landmark, Hong Kong

Current designers and collections

• Frank Gehry's collections include Axis, Equus, Fish, Flux, Orchid, Torque, and Tube.
• Elsa Peretti's collections include Bean, Diamonds by the Yard, Open Heart, Sevillana, and Teardrop.
• Paloma Picasso's collections include Loving Heart and Sugar Stacks.
• Jean Schlumberger

See also

19th Century Tiffany & Co. Pitcher. Circa 1871. Pitcher has paneled sides, and repousse design with shells, scrolls and flowers. Top edge is repousse arrowhead leaf design

• Camille Le Tallec
• Jean Schlumberger
• Louis Comfort Tiffany
• Paloma Picasso
• Sunglass Hut
• Walter Hoving

Literature

• Bezdek, Richard H. American Swords and Sword Makers. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press, 1999.
• Bizot, Chantal, Marie-Noël de Gary, and Évelyne Possémé. The Jewels of Jean Schlumberger. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publisher, 2001. (English translation)
• Carpenter, Charles and Janet Zapata. The Silver of Tiffany & Co., 1850-1987. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1987.
• Dietz, Ulysses Grant, Jenna Weissman Joselit, and Kevin J. Smead. The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America’s Jewelry. Newark: The National Endowment for the Humanities, 1997.
• Duncan, Alastair, Martin Eidelberg, and Neil Harris. Masterworks of Louis Comfort Tiffany. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1989. Catalogue for an exhibition at the Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C., from September 29, 1989 - March 4, 1990 and at the National Academy of Design, New York, from March 27 - July 8, 1990.
• Fashion Institute of Technology. Elsa Peretti: Fifteen of My Fifty with Tiffany. New York: Fashion Institute of Technology, 1990. Exhibition catalogue, April 24 - May 10, 1990.
• Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney. Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006.
• Green, Annette and Linda Dyett. Secrets of Aromatic Jewelry. Paris: Flammarion, 1998.
• Hood, William P., with Roslyn Berlin and Edward Wawrynek. Tiffany Silver Flatware 1845-1905: When Dining was an Art. Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors Club, 1999.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Colored Gems. New York: Abrams, 2007. (Available Fall 2007)
• Loring, John. Greetings from Andy Warhol: Christmas at Tiffany's. New York: Abrams, 2004.
• Loring, John. Louis Comfort Tiffany at Tiffany & Co.. New York: Abrams, 2002.
• Loring, John. Magnificent Tiffany Silver. New York: Abrams, 2001.
• Loring, John. The New Tiffany Tablesettings. New York: Doubleday, 1981.
• Loring, John. Paulding Farnham: Tiffany's Lost Genius. New York: Abrams, 2000.
• Loring, John. A Tiffany Christmas. New York: Doubleday, 1996.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Diamonds. New York: Abrams, 2005.
• Loring, John. Tiffany in Fashion. New York: Abrams, 2003.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Flora and Fauna. New York: Abrams, 2003.
• Loring, John. The Tiffany Gourmet Cookbook. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Jewels. New York: Abrams, 1999.
• Loring, John. Tiffany's 150 Years. New York: Doubleday, 1987.
• Loring, John. Tiffany's Palm Beach. New York: Abrams, 2005.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Parties. New York: Doubleday, 1989.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Pearls. New York: Abrams, 2006.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Taste. New York: Doubleday, 1986.
• Loring, John. Tiffany Timepieces. New York: Abrams, 2004.
• Loring, John. Tiffany's 20th Century: A Portrait of American Style. New York: Abrams, 1997.
• Loring, John. The Tiffany Wedding. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
• Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981.
• Phillips, Clare. Bejewelled by Tiffany: 1837-1987. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006.
• Proddow, Penny and Debra Healy. American Jewelry, Glamour & Tradition. New York: Rizzoli, 1987.
• Proddow, Penny and Debra Healy. Diamonds: A Century of Spectacular Jewels. New York: Abrams, 1996.
• Purtell, Joseph. The Tiffany Touch. New York: Random House, 1971.
• Ricci, Franco Maria. Jean Schlumberger. Milan: Franco Maria Ricci, 1991.
• Schnierla, Peter and Penny Proddow. Tiffany: 150 Years of Gems and Jewelry. New York: Tiffany & Co., 1987.
• Snowman, Kenneth A. The Master Jewelers. New York: Abrams, 1990.
• Stern, Jewel. Modernism in American Silver. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
• Tiffany Retrospective: Designs from Tiffany and Co., 1837-1999. Tokyo and New York: APT, 1999.
• Un Diamant Dans La Ville: Jean Schlumberger 1907-1987 Bijoux - Objets. Paris: Musee des Arts decoratifs: 1995.
• Venable, Charles L. Silver in America 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor. Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1994.
• Warren, David B. et al. Marks of Achievement: Four Centuries of American Presentation Silver. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987.
• Zapata, Janet. The Jewelry and Enamels of Louis Comfort Tiffany. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 1993*.

External links

Media related to Tiffany & Co. at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website