Talk:Tiffany mount

lowercase...

Since we're talking about a generic name "tiffany setting" and "tiffany mount" shouldn't these words be lowercase when not the first word in a sentence? I would say that is the difference between a Tiffany brand set ring and a tiffany style mounted ring. Centerone (talk) 00:24, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

It's my understanding that the term "Tiffany® setting" is a registered trademark. However, registered trademarks can become generic if enough people use the term and their use goes unchallenged. Examples include: "Heroin - A proprietary name applied to diacetyl morphine. Manufactured by Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co Leverkusen Germany - The Bayer Company Inc. New York US trademark No 31,836" and "Ping-pong: (registered Trademark U.S. No. 36,854)" Tiffany® setting Zyxwv99 (talk) 14:27, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

Should there then not be a more appropriate word or phrase to describe such a setting that does not use the trademarked Tiffany name? Centerone (talk) 03:52, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

I've always heard it as "Tiffany setting" if it's from Tiffany & Co. or correctly "Tiffany-style" setting if it's from someone else. I think "setting" is more commonly used than "mount." As for what we should call it, "Tiffany-style setting" is common usage and apparently legal. Besides the question of whether it's become a generic name, there is also the issue of Tiffany having "stolen" the design from another jeweler after the patent expired. However, the main point is that it is not our job to reform the English language. "Tiffany-style" has passed every legal test and is what it's called. Just because Tiffany & Co. has put a circle R after their name doesn't automatically prevent other people from using the name in a different context, such as followed by a hyphen and the word "style." Zyxwv99 (talk) 23:42, 10 November 2013 (UTC)