15 Facts About Tiffany & Co., One of the Most Coveted Jewelry Brands in the World

3 years ago

A stylish Tiffany blue box can make the hearts of many girls race because there is a desired piece of jewelry inside. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s an inexpensive silver piece or a piece covered with gems, either of them will be flawless. And this is why this brand is so popular.

At Bright Side, we decided to find out how one of the most successful companies of present times was founded and how it developed.

The company was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in 1837, but their first store was far from being glamorous — they sold stationery and fancy goods. Later Charles took over the company, renamed it Tiffany & Company, and decided to focus primarily on jewelry.
To celebrate the date of the founding, Tiffany released a collection called “1837” and continues to release it.
The brand was inspired by the wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie de Montijo. She was the biggest fashion icon of the 19th century. When Charles Tiffany saw her portrait, he knew that the shade of blue in her gown would become very popular. He decided to make it the official color for the Tiffany brand.

The portrait of Empress Eugenie

To develop his business, Charles created America’s first mail-order catalog, known as the “blue book,” the cover of which was Tiffany’s brand color. Many other brands followed suit when they realized how successful this approach was.
The color was recreated in Pantone. And since Tiffany & Co. owns this color, you won’t be able to find a similar color anywhere else.

It was Charles who invented the engagement ring with a big precious stone. In 1886, he decided he would lift the diamond up above the band. Soon, every woman in America wanted this piece of jewelry.
Some other pieces by Tiffany also became classics, for example, a Tiffany lamp made from colorful glass. Steve Jobs, who preferred to live in a nearly empty home, had only a record player and a Tiffany lamp in his living room.
There’s one strict rule in a Tiffany store: they’ll never let you buy a box in the brand color because it’s free. A person can only get one by making a purchase. According to a 1906 newspaper article, “Tiffany has one thing in stock that you cannot buy off him, for as much money as you may offer, he will only give it to you. And that is one of his boxes.”

Charles and the following owners realized that jewelry designers were the key to keeping the company relevant. So, they always worked with the best ones. Tiffany’s so-called second Golden Age began under the management of Walter Hoving in 1955. He hired Jean Schlumberger, whose imaginative ideas uniquely combined gems in highly detailed designs. Also, he introduced a selection of previously unknown colored gemstones, such as kunzite, morganite, tsavorite, and tanzanite, named in the honor of illustrious people in Tiffany’s history or the stones’ countries of origin.
Jewelry designers Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso joined Tiffany & Co in the 1970s and 1980s and designed some of the most beautiful and colorful Tiffany collections. Paloma Picasso was inspired by the graffiti on Manhattan’s buildings during the 1970s. She reimagined the city’s street art into chic, luxurious, graphic jewelry that is still very popular to this day.

Tiffany & Co owns one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. The diamond’s carat weight was 287.42 (57.484 g) in the rough. When it was discovered in 1878 in the Kimberley mine in South Africa, Tiffany’s gemologist, George Frederick Kunz, who was trusted with cutting the diamond, was only 23 years old. He studied the gem for a year before beginning to cut it. Kunz cut the diamond into a cushion shape with 82 facets — 24 more than a traditional round brilliant — to maximize its brilliance.
Jewelry and diamond historian Herbert Tillander refers to this as a “stellar brilliant cut.” Interestingly, Kunz didn’t attend college. He taught himself mineralogy from books and field research.
This famous diamond worth $30 million was only worn by 4 people. Lady Gaga wore it during the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony. It was also worn by Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball, Audrey Hepburn in publicity photographs for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Beyoncé in photographs for the Tiffany 2021 advertising campaign.

Not only the design of its products but also the interior and ambience of its stores has always been important for the company. Interestingly, the Flagship Fifth Avenue store was the first fully air-conditioned building in New York, and this, of course, helped customers feel comfortable inside and make their purchases.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s was the first movie that was shot inside the store which was safeguarded by 40 security guards. Inspired by the movie, the store opened its own café — The Blue Box Cafe.