I was walking up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue the other day and decided to drop in on Tiffany & Co.’s remarkable flagship store on 57th Street.
With all the talk of fluctuating prices, how does Tiffany consistently produce excitement and wonderful silver jewelry?
One of the TV hosts on the FOX BUSINESS NETWORK asked me the same question recently.
Back to the store. I took the elevator to the second floor – “Silver and Porcelain”: the directory said. The doors opened to an organized confusion. This is where the action was, at least for now.
Customers, (mostly female tourists with an occasional New “Yhawka”), younger that those on the first floor, (none older than 35, I think) were huddled over the cases, sometimes two or three deep while they passed credit cards to the Ambassadors behind the counter.
Having been in the silver jewelry business for the last eight years, after a decade in the gold jewelry industry, I have a pretty good understanding of silver merchandising and pricing. What was all the excitement?
“With all the talk of fluctuating prices, how does Tiffany consistently produce excitement and wonderful silver jewelry?”
I took a hard look at their silver showcases.
In my estimation, the silver jewelry was merchandised wonderfully. Each case displayed a grouping of branded (i.e. Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, Tiffany 1837, T&CO, Tiffany Signature, and many others), silver designs, especially pendants and bracelets. Prices ranged to cover all major price points.
I could tell from the tailored silver designs (all with a Tiffany “look’), the designing was done exclusively by (or for) Tiffany and probably manufactured overseas and in the US. From what I could see, the quality was very good.
Over the years, Tiffany has pioneered in styling like the well-known, 3-pronged Tiffany setting. There was innovative styling here too. Small total weight diamonds set on silver bracelets, woven silver bracelets, torque designs among others.
They had done their homework.
Take Tiffany & Co., for example. Over the years, Tiffany has become a retail channel by itself. Their skilled management team pioneered silver styling, (i.e. remember the 3-pronged Tiffany setting), merchandising, branding, (i.e. Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso) and pricing. Silver jewelry has become a strong – if not major — part of their product mix. How big a part is, of course, a carefully guarded trade secret? They’ve been doing their silver jewelry homework for decades.