Editor’s Note
Tiffany & Co. is set to offer an 80-carat diamond necklace next year, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This record-breaking piece marks a significant strategic push by parent company LVMH to elevate the jeweler’s heritage following its acquisition.
American jeweler Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany) has acquired an 80-carat diamond and will sell it next year. With a price tag estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it is expected to become the most expensive piece of jewelry in Tiffany’s history. This move appears to be part of LVMH’s (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) first major strategic initiative to strengthen Tiffany’s heritage following its acquisition of the brand. LVMH owns 75 luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy.
Tiffany announced on the 5th that it will recreate a legendary piece of jewelry first shown at the 1939 World’s Fair, using a large diamond newly purchased from Botswana and set in a new design. The piece will be unveiled on the day Tiffany’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York reopens after renovations. Foreign media outlets estimate its value to be in the tens of millions of dollars (hundreds of billions of Korean won).
The 128.54-carat Tiffany Yellow Diamond, considered the finest jewel in Tiffany’s history, has been strictly preserved for exhibition. To date, Tiffany has permitted only three women to wear it: socialite Mary Whitehouse in 1957, actress Audrey Hepburn for the 1961 film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, and singer Lady Gaga in 2019. In 1995, it was redesigned as a ‘Bird on a Rock’ brooch for a retrospective exhibition in Paris of Tiffany jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger.
This large yellow diamond is the piece that elevated Tiffany to its status as a global ‘diamond authority’. Tiffany’s founder, Charles Lewis Tiffany, purchased a 287.42-carat rough diamond from the Kimberley mine in South Africa in 1878. To maximize its beauty, he accepted a loss of over half its weight, recutting it into a 128.43-carat ‘cushion brilliant cut’ diamond of extraordinary brilliance.
The acquisition of Tiffany by LVMH, dubbed the ‘Deal of the Century’, was originally valued at $16.2 billion but faced complications during the COVID-19 pandemic. LVMH declared it would withdraw from the deal in September last year, leading to legal disputes between the two companies. However, the acquisition was finalized after the purchase price was reduced by $425 million.
LVMH has overhauled Tiffany’s management. Alexandre Arnault, son of Chairman Bernard Arnault, joined Tiffany’s management team. Two executives from Louis Vuitton were also brought in: Anthony Ledru, Louis Vuitton’s Executive Vice President who previously served as Senior Vice President for Tiffany in North America, was appointed CEO of Tiffany. Michael Burke, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, will participate in management as Chairman of Tiffany’s board of directors.
LVMH has also stated it will comprehensively reform Tiffany’s design department. Reuters analyzed this move as an attempt to “innovate designs and focus on younger and Asian customers.”
Indeed, despite the COVID-19 situation last year, Tiffany’s sales surged, centered in Asia including China, achieving record performance during the year-end shopping season. According to Reuters, Tiffany’s sales from November 1st through year-end increased by 2% compared to the same period the previous year. Notably, sales in the Asia-Pacific region surged by 20%, with sales growth in mainland China exceeding 50%.