EXCLUSIVE: Inside Tiffany & Co.’s Excessive Jewellery Acceleration Plan

The lofty ambitions of Tiffany & Co. for the jewellery they’re simply going up. In response to CEO Anthony Ledru in a latest dialogue, the jeweler will proceed a worldwide rollout of experiential gross sales occasions and imaginative designs at a excessive tempo.

In January, mum or dad firm LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton revealed in its 2022 annual earnings report that Tiffany doubled its excessive jewellery income within the fiscal yr. Ledru appears to assume it is a good begin.

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We principally obtained our blue packing containers out into the world. 2021 was the primary time the Blue E-book was worldwide [in more than a decade], went to Shanghai, which was an incredible success. This yr he will probably be again in New York [at the companys renovated Fifth Avenue store] and will probably be a touring assortment. The world has modified, and it is one thing we’ll proceed to speed up within the coming months, Ledru mentioned in his nook government suite, the place his display screen saver flashes Okay-pop stars serving as key model ambassadors.

Proof of that plan was unveiled earlier this month in Park Metropolis, Utah, the place Tiffany held its first Diamonds and Wonders jewellery occasion. The initiative was constructed round a glacier theme that spoke to the panorama of Park Citys ski resort in addition to the quite a few vital white diamonds featured within the set off case collection.

Diamonds and Wonders featured a cross part of excessive jewellery from numerous Tiffanys collections. She positioned a heavy emphasis on white diamonds, together with a necklace set with a 100-plus carat stone reduce in the identical proportions because the Tiffany yellow diamond.

The occasion idea will proceed in Shanghai on April 13 providing the items to a brand new market. A follow-up occasion is deliberate for Sydney in Might.

Tiffany is not the one jeweler chasing excessive jewellery gross sales. The sphere has change into a gold rush with a big clientele in search of revolutionary designs and treasured stones. For some collectors, the class has change into a checking account of excessive aesthetics that displays the best way excessive jewellery was collected throughout the trade’s golden age of the mid-to-late nineteenth century.^u century.

Ledru, a jewellery historical past buff, demonstrated the Tiffanys’ pedigree within the class with a convention desk stuffed with archival items of diamonds from the period, principally high-society objects, together with a brooch that after belonged to Empress Eugenie.

Whereas the jewellery area has centered on coloured diamonds and gems over the previous 5 years, Ledru mentioned white diamonds like those featured in Park Metropolis have a long-standing place in Tiffanys historical past. He additionally identified that Tiffanys excessive jewellery diverges from its rivals as a result of the beautiful stones drive the jewelers’ designs as a focus, slightly than clinging on as costly ornament.

When requested how the marketplace for excessive jewellery has exploded so shortly and who these prospects are, Ledru mentioned: It is all over the place he is been within the US, Singapore, the Center East. Now excessive jewellery purchasers are in Paris, London, all over the place greater than earlier than. I imagine the wealth creation during the last 10 years has been distinctive.

In an effort to seize a bit of the craze, Tiffany appears to carry high-profile jewellery occasions or initiatives virtually each month.

Now a part of LVMH’s watch and jewellery division beneath Stephen Bianchi, Tiffany is adopting a few of the methods of its sister manufacturers within the group. Earlier than the LVMH takeover, Tiffany normally solely held a couple of high-jewelry occasions a yr with a extra low-key method. Now, the annual Blue E-book assortment of jewellery will probably be complemented by smaller journey capsules with glowing shows, just like the one in Park Metropolis.

There’s a robust urge for food for top jewelery and Tiffany might have been a bit sleepy previously, however we’ve come out of a [collection] in multiples of 1, Ledru mentioned.

He mentioned the Blue E-book will stay a particular occasion as a result of it’s thought-about a Tiffanys high fashion present.

Victoria Reynolds, head gemologist at Tiffanys, is liable for overseeing the acquisition of treasured stones and in addition travels to occasions the place she communicates with prospects in regards to the designs obtainable for buy. She acknowledged {that a} sooner tempo provides a little bit extra strain to her job.

That is additionally what makes discovering these unimaginable gems so particular. I’m continuously on a quest to search out excellent diamonds and gems for our jewellery collections. I journey the world, in search of stones that meet our exacting requirements, he added.

In response to Ledru, the designs that discover essentially the most reputation with prospects are sometimes from Tiffanys Schlumberger collections. Shortly after LVMH acquired Tiffany in January 2021, the jewelers’ new management, together with Ledru and government vp for product and communications Alexandre Arnault, put a brand new emphasis on archival Schlumberger designs initially conceived within the mid-century. Ledru mentioned Schlumberger will now change into a fair larger focus of Tiffanys excessive jewellery collections.

Ledru named Schlumbergers Fowl on a Rock, a pin design initially created in 1965, a present once we arrived [at the brand]. The design contains a ridiculous firebird-like creature perched on high of an necessary gemstone as a substitute of a tree department.

We obtained Fowl on a Rock and it went off the cliff, so to talk. It exploded. There’s a very spectacular ready listing in any respect value factors, with the entry stage being round $75,000 and in addition on the increased finish, which is round $1 million plus.

In February, Tiffany confirmed off a brand new tackle the design, referred to as Fowl on a Pearl, incorporating Gulf pearls as a substitute of layered stones. Ledru mentioned about 70 p.c of the gathering was bought out on the assortment launch occasion in Qatar.

The Fowl on a Pearl collection additionally supplied a preview of Tiffanys remaining designs for Schlumberger’s inimitable design.

Who buys pins? About 10 p.c of excessive jewellery cleaners. So we are going to put the fowl on earrings, bracelets and necklaces, Ledru mentioned.

Within the Fowl on a Pearl assortment that meant new iterations of the fowl typically going through ahead or in mid-flight, and set as a pendant on a superb diamond-flecked chain, or amongst a flock of different species of it, flying on its method in a cluster of pearls.

For many consumers, excessive jewellery just like the items introduced at Tiffanys occasions are, at face worth, lovely objects behind glass and the best expression of a model that they’ll work together with by way of advertising and marketing campaigns or by buying by way of cheaper means. collections. However for a choose group of rich prospects, these plans are a actuality.

Ledru appears fascinated by this distinctive cultural interplay. Since touchdown at Tiffany he has been obsessive about discovering the precise alchemy to make sure that Tiffany is a magical place that brings goals to all demographics. In excessive jewellery, there is a rise in gross sales to be made on the highest stage whereas permitting for the aspiration of a wider client base.

Whereas many see jewellery as a pipe dream, there’s a rising variety of shoppers who discover these merchandise inside their attain.

He grouped the excessive jewellery market into two primary client segments. One is a purist and is enthusiastic about heritage. They need to be a part of that membership of heritage manufacturers with distinct fashion, and there are 4 or 5 manufacturers on the earth, Ledru mentioned.

Go forward, The second [group] they’re new they’re newer they usually purchase in a great way. They’re situated in China, elements of Southeast Asia and different elements of the world shopping for excessive jewellery from vogue manufacturers. So, the good Tiffanys issue they like.

Tiffany, in Ledrus’ thoughts, is on the crossroads of those two shoppers. There’s that outdated historical past, however Tiffany’s can be a part of the brand new world with the spirit of New York and is a cultural phenomenon, he argued.

Ledru could also be excited in regards to the class’s potential, however he additionally cautioned that Tiffanys intentions within the area are measured. I do not imagine in rising up too quick with excessive jewellery. The fantastic thing about excessive jewellery making is rarity, which is troublesome to fabricate from nature. Because of this individuals love excessive jewellery or watchmaking as a result of it’s a lovely creation that it’s a must to have or go away.

This excessive jewellery progress comes amid a really busy time for the jeweler. On the finish of April, Tiffany will lastly reopen its new Fifth Avenue flagship after a four-year renovation. The shop will embrace a complete ground devoted to excessive jewellery and can host the launch occasion for Tiffanys 2023 Blue E-book assortment someday this summer time.

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Initially revealed March 28, 2023, 10:02 p.m