Tiffany & Co. - The All-Things Tiffany & Co. Thread

[yslforever]

Wall Street Journal

So the current strategy is to chase the hypebeast ?
It might be a very successfull strategy on the short term, long term does not really matter anymore...

 

[Frederic01]

Tiffany’s New Paris Pop-up Has Something Old ⁠— and Something Blue

Miles Socha / Tue, May 31, 2022, 2:51 AM


It’s hard to resist describing Tiffany & Co.’s new pop-up in Paris as a jewel box.

The petite and plush boutique at 34 Avenue Montagne — its circular rooms laid out like a couple of engagement rings, or a drop earring — functions as a mini museum and calling card for the American firm’s fine and high jewelry, as only gold and diamond baubles are displayed and sold here.

The 650-square-foot space opened Saturday for a one-year residency. Previously it was occupied by Dior Joaillerie, which moved into the Dior megastore across the street earlier this year.

Among the most eye-catching features in the space are a trio of came-glass Tiffany lamps; a round “engagement hub” twinkling with high-carat rings clenched in turquoise “Marry Me” boxes, and two blue, minimalist paintings by Richard Prince from 2004 and 2005 with Tiffany ads plastered in the upper right-hand corner, just as they appeared daily in The New York Times for decades until recently.


Archival jewelry on display at Tiffany on Avenue Montaigne. - Credit: Dominique Maître/WWD

Visitors alight upon the archives, displayed under pyramids of glass or in cases embedded into walls that flash with digital imagery and historical information. The eye goes to a jewelry set made of densely piled pearls — an unsigned design from back in the day when Tiffany & Co. cofounders Charles Lewis Tiffany and J. B. Young were selling fancy goods on Broadway in New York City — and to a spectacularly detailed gold charm depicting the Arc de Triomphe.

Exceptional pieces by George Paulding Farnham, Tiffany’s chief jewelry designer from 1885 to 1908, are also on display, including an enamel orchid brooch and a baroque perfume bottle in gold, rock crystal and precious gemstones. Card cases and cigarette boxes mingle with elaborate jewels, recalling La Belle Époque in France, while midcentury designs by Jean Schlumberger, including the famous Bird on a Rock brooch, point to Tiffany’s modernity.

Cue the second room, showcasing a host of collections launched since luxuryconglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton took control of Tiffany in December 2020. These include the Tiffany City HardWear and Tiffany Knot collections, which are displayed along with the T1 and Victoria ranges, plus designs by the late Elsa Peretti and select high jewelry pieces.

Retail prices posted for the items on display range from about 1,950 euros to 290,000 euros, and go higher for emerald rings and exceptional necklaces in white and yellow diamonds. Window displays are given over entirely to high jewelry items, emblematic of LVMH’s strategy to refocus and grow Tiffany’s many jewelry pillars.


The VIP salon, appointed with a Tiffany floor lamp. - Credit: Dominique Maître/WWD

The pop-up culminates with a compact VIP salon complete with a small banquette, consultation desk and the historical pièce de résistance: an original catalogue from the 1887 auction of the French Crown Jewels, a significant portion of which were purchased by Charles Lewis Tiffany.

Indeed, the entire pop-up represents “a modern embodiment” of the nearly 200-year-old relationship between Tiffany and Paris, according to Anthony Ledru, the American jeweler’s chief executive officer. “It represents an innovative approach to Parisian shopping and a forward-thinking vision of experiential retail,” he said.

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture, whose partners include Rem Koolhaas, designed the temporary Tiffany unit, which brings to seven the number of retail showcases in the French capital.

In addition to its flagships on Rue de la Paix and the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Tiffany boasts shops-in-shop in Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Samaritaine and Le Bon Marché. The latter opened last November with a new decor the company described as “refined, warm and feminine.”

Tiffany’s ties to Paris stretch back to 1841 when Young came to the French capital on a buying trip. He and the cofounder would go on to open a buying office on the Rue de Richelieu in 1850, and display Tiffany creations at universal exhibitions.

Professor and author Alba Cappellieri is to curate a rotating selection of historic jewels and objects throughout the retail residency, Tiffany noted.

WWD

 

[KoV]

If only they put as much energy into the jewelry as they do the pop-ups - they're gorgeous!


At least they still carry the classics. Elsa Peretti 4 life.

 

[lucy92]

Arnault talks strategy in this Guardian excerpt here - is this partially a walk-back on strategy? Earlier this year Arnault were talking about about distancing the brand from lower priced sterling silver items.
Cultural relevance essential to business today, says Tiffany boss

Cultural engagement is a high-risk strategy but worth pursuing because relevance is now essential to business, the boss of the jewellers Tiffany says, as an exhibition celebrating the brand’s heritage in popular culture opens in London.

Alexandre Arnault, the son of Bernard Arnault, is a member of the LVMH dynasty, which bought Tiffany for $16bn (£12bn) last year. He recently faced controversy when a 128-carat diamond worn by Beyoncé in advertising for the brand was revealed to have a problematic origin as a blood diamond.

The singer, who was the first black woman to wear the diamond, faced a backlash for wearing the gem, which was discovered in Kimberley in what is now South Africa in 1877.

“Luxury brands used to communicate in a very authoritarian way. You could put a brand on the back page of Vogue and say, this is who I am. Now that people can share and comment, we know that our point of view won’t work for everyone.

“But we can’t get so scared that we don’t do anything exciting. Tiffany has been part of pop culture for 185 years and we plan to continue with that for ever, whether that’s with Beyoncé, or with [Korean pop star] Rosé,” Arnault said.

An exhibition which opens at London’s Saatchi Gallery on Friday 10 June shows how moments in pop culture have become the crown jewels of the Tiffany brand. Audrey Hepburn window-shopping in a little black dress in the iconic Hollywood film, Christmas cards designed by Andy Warhol, and Emma Raducanu playing grand slam tennis in a Tiffany cross necklace have all been central to Tiffany’s success.

Images of Grace Jones in the “bone” cuff bangles fashionable in the 1970s, and of Diana, Princess of Wales photographed at Wimbledon in a suite of gold jewellery in the 1990s illustrate how the jewellery has adapted to the zeitgeist.

A 1957 window display designed for the Fifth Avenue flagship by artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and a trompe l’oeil champagne tower captured in resin, sculpted in honour of the 2013 film The Great Gatsby, are featured in the exhibition.

“Our windows are a big part of how we message out to the world, because they create a memory, and a valuable emotional connection,” said the creative director, Christopher Young, at a preview. Visitors to the exhibition can take selfies alongside a yellow cab on Fifth Avenue in a recreation of the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and use augmented reality technology to try on jewellery.

Diamonds make up about 20% of Tiffany sales, mostly in the form of engagement rings and wedding bands, while gold and silver jewellery bring in the bulk of profits. Many luxury brands have hiked prices in recent years in an attempt to protect brand exclusivity, but Arnault says Tiffany will continue with the entry-level silver jewellery which “is a big part of who we are and why we are liked”.

 

[velvetandsilk]

Emma Raducanu playing grand slam tennis in a Tiffany cross necklace have all been central to Tiffany’s success.

One-hit wonder girl with a problem to win any tournament. In theory, she's young, but so far it's not looking very good.

“Our windows are a big part of how we message out to the world, because they create a memory, and a valuable emotional connection,” said the creative director, Christopher Young, at a preview. Visitors to the exhibition can take selfies alongside a yellow cab on Fifth Avenue in a recreation of the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and use augmented reality technology to try on jewellery.

Exhibition haha. It is PR event in private Gallery.

 

[Frederic01]

TIFFANY&CO

 

[perhydrol]

Such a pointless collaboration. This strategy will damage the brand's reputation instead of creating any hype.

 

[andrew]

can't think of any thing less essential

 

[jeanclaude]

The collaboration trend has gone too far...jewels and trainers...seriously???

What´s next?? Tiffany´s Happy Meal?? Instead of "Breakfast with diamonds", we could have "Junk food with diamonds"!

https://hk.hypebeast.com/

 

[KoV]

Dior x Nike x Tiffany & Co. x Fendi x Skims x Versace x Supreme x Gucci x Adidas x Prada x North Face x Moncler x Palm Angels x Rick Owens x Birkenstock x Marc Jacobs x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ....


For the love of God, S T O P

 

[gallianostan]

TIFFANY&CO

christ alive... raze this sh*t to the ground.

 

[Drusilla_]

.......they were serious with this sh*t? WHAT. Weren't the entry-level silver charms/necklaces doing well enough at hooking first-time customers or does Tiffany not realise hypebeastism is dead.

 

[LadyJunon]

.......they were serious with this sh*t? WHAT. Weren't the entry-level silver charms/necklaces doing well enough at hooking first-time customers or does Tiffany not realise hypebeastism is dead.

You really missed the chance to call it "hypebeastiality".

 

[yslforever]

I just really want to see a Tiffany x Birkenstock collab now; Pantone 1837c orthopedics will be all the rage for at least 1 or 2 weeks . And then an exclusive Tiffany x Loro Piana still-born vicuna tracksuit, then an exclusive blue Tiffany beach café at Cheval Blanc St Barts, then Maria-Grazia Chiuri is suddenly inspired and designs Dior Toile de Jouy and Cannage Book totes on Tiffany blue blackground and the following year it's a Vuitton capsule collection.
I am too knowledgeable in cow milking...

 

[GRCF]

You really missed the chance to call it "hypebeastiality".

Unfortunately, it seems like Alexandre Arnault will always chase the hypebeastism, he IS hypebeast. I get it, he is young and wants to make Tiffany relevant, wants to make himself relevant probably. But I don't see the point in this new collab. The brand's reputation has been damaged for me since he came in. Tiffany, to me, had an aura of sophistication at an accessible (to me) price point. I no longer see it as that, it has become too.....tawdry? Urban? At least in terms of marketing but with this new collab, products also, apparently.

 

[andrew]

dude's a NFT dweeb, no need to say more.

 

[Drusilla_]

You really missed the chance to call it "hypebeastiality".

well played !

In more "this has to be some kind of spoof and no one told us" news - this is from Tiffany's official instagram account.
We thought the shoes were bad, they really said "we're just getting started".

(I can accept the whistle, the rest, just......NO)

 

[Drusilla_]

Unfortunately, it seems like Alexandre Arnault will always chase the hypebeastism, he IS hypebeast. I get it, he is young and wants to make Tiffany relevant, wants to make himself relevant probably. But I don't see the point in this new collab. The brand's reputation has been damaged for me since he came in. Tiffany, to me, had an aura of sophistication at an accessible (to me) price point. I no longer see it as that, it has become too.....tawdry? Urban? At least in terms of marketing but with this new collab, products also, apparently.

I mean, people were talking sh*t about Tiffany silver products (and at the very least silver is a precious metal) but dude went straight past that to Tiffany-branded plastic. Your logo will end up in the landfill, well played .

 

[GRCF]

well played !

In more "this has to be some kind of spoof and no one told us" news - this is from Tiffany's official instagram account.
We thought the shoes were bad, they really said "we're just getting started".



(I can accept the whistle, the rest, just......NO)

You mean this ad was real???? I saw it but thought it was something out of The Onion. I really did think it was a joke ad. That's wild. At least Bernard Arnault is still alive and Delphine because I shutter to think what LVMH will become with this kid if he was chosen to succeed his father. Hopefully he grows out of this at some point, he has time to mature, or this will be like Elon at Twitter.

 

[yslforever]

To be honest, Tiffany already produced sterling-silver random objects like boussoles, shoehorns, clothespins, toothbrush etc. It's nothing new, Reed Krakoff reedited some of them not long ago. And Tiffanys used to sell gold or silver drug paraphernalia in the 70s and 80s, so I am not offended.
But the collab with Nike was unnecessary. It dilutes the brand.