Supplying the Union Army with swords, designing the New York Yankees logo, revising the Great Seal of the United States, and the craftsmen behind the most notable trophies in sports, this brand has one of THE COOLEST stories of all time.
And yet you’d never expect it…
It’s 1837, American industries were humming, the great robber barons were starting to make hay, and a young man by the name of Charles Lewis Tiffany stepped into the limelight.
With the help of his father via a modest $1,000 investment ($32,000 in today’s dollars), Charles opened up a stationery and fancy goods emporium in the heart of New York with his friend, John B. Young.
Unlike other emporiums at the time, Tiffany and Young’s store had marked prices on its goods, eliminating all bartering, and only accepted ready cash payments. Both were clear pivots against the culture of installment payments and haggling over prices.
From the jump this segmented the market for Tiffany’s, only customers who had the cash on hand, and enough of it to pay full price without negotiating, were in Tiffany’s doors.
You didn’t get the typical crowd inside, you had to BE SOMEBODY to afford what they were selling, just what Tiffany’s wanted.
But after a lukewarm 16 years of business, Tiffany took full control of the company, and leaned into the jewelry side of the business.
To get new eyeballs on the newly rebranded Tiffany & Co, Charles Tiffany created the first EVER direct-mail retail catalog.
Named the “Blue Book”, the purpose of this catalog was to educate consumers that the high-class diamonds they saw their favorite celebrities wearing, were in fact within reach.
“Representing the pinnacle of [Tiffany & Co] jewelry portfolio”, this direct-mail catalog was today’s equivalent of a viral paid social campaign. The goal was top of funnel awareness, and to educate the consumer on one main thing, where they can buy the best jewelry in the US…at Tiffany’s.
But while they were scaling their offering in the jewelry front, Tiffany & Co continued on a few strategic side quests.
In 1862, Tiffany & Co became one of the main suppliers of swords for the Union Army. A few years after that, Tiffany & Co designed the New York Medal of Valor, which was the iconic interlocking “N” and “Y” that also became the New York Yankees logo.
(See Babe Ruth donning the logo below.)
And in the same time period, Tiffany & Co was commissioned by the US government to redesign The Great Seal of The United States.
All 3 had absolutely nothing to do with Tiffany’s core offering, yet had everything to do with the perception of their brand.
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See, each of these seemingly unrelated accomplishments by Tiffany & Co all came back to one thing, craftsmanship, which you know plays a massive role in fine jewelry.
And this is the magic that Tiffany & Co has doubled down on in the decades since to clearly position themselves above the competition.
They’re specialists in showcasing their craftsmanship in adjacent pursuits, just like Rolls Royce designing jet engines or Samsung designing the world’s tallest building in Dubai, Tiffany & Co is building an aura of excellence for the brand through projects like designing the most notable trophies in American sports.
In 1967, Tiffany & Co hand-crafted the first Lombardi Trophy (and every trophy since), given to the Super Bowl Champions each year. The trophy is a 7lb, 22 inch beauty of sterling silver that the NFL’s best players hold proudly at the end of the season.
And in 1977, Tiffany & Co began work with the NBA. For the previous 30 years the trophy had taken a different name, shape, and significance. But this partnership between the NBA and Tiffany & Co was part of a larger shift in the perception of the NBA, moving from a niche sport to a worldwide global pastime.
This new, Larry O’Brien Trophy, is made of 15lbs of sterling silver with a 24 karat gold overlay. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, the world’s most notable NBA players are forever aligned with the trophy.
Not to mention Tiffany & Co designed and built The Commissioner’s Trophy each year, which is given to the World Series champions.
But what takes the cake, and shows that Tiffany & Co is still pursuing peak craftsmanship some 185 years after being founded, is this pop-up shop in 2024 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Since 1987 Tiffany & Co has been masterfully constructing the US Open Championship Trophies and is leaning wholeheartedly into their “Crafting of Victory” with the over-the-top 108 bezel-set diamonds of 30 total carats tennis racket.
A cherry on top (especially since it’s my fav sport LOL) to their long-standing history of excellence, the racket is primed in Tiffany Blue, Tiffany diamonds, and is another example of craftsmanship in an unrelated field that acts as a metaphor for what you can expect when it comes to Tiffany jewelry.
Only champions hold The Lombardi Trophy, only champions hold The Singles Championship Trophies, only champions hold a beautiful Tiffany diamond ring on their finger…
