Tiffany & Co is a world renowned luxury brand in jewelry with a rich history of over 150 years. Besides its various outlets, the store also has an online presence, and customers can purchase diamonds online too, by utilizing the local websites and the online catalogs. Known for its well established brand name, high end quality and novel designs, this brand offers the dream diamonds for many women. The Tiffany Blue Box with a silver ribbon is the standard packaging offered by the company and is looked forth to by many buyers for its simple elegance and style.

About the store

Respected as one of the best high end jewelry stores of the US, today Tiffany's has outlets in various countries like the Americas,UK, Europe, Latin America, Japan, Middle East and China.

The Tiffany & Co Foundation is an important aspect of this retail chain that looks into sustainability and environment. The Foundation's Environment Program works to support organizations that conserve natural resources through responsible mining, coral reef conservation and protection. It supports organizations that work to preserve the historic and cultural legacy of arts. It also furthers grants to institutions for supporting talented artisans and supporting academic scholarships relevant to jewelry at graduate and postgraduate levels.

History

The store's history dates to 1837, when Tiffany & Young was established by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young. It was in the same year that the store also introduced its famous blue box, the packaging that makes many hearts flutter even today. This color was also translated to other promotional material of the store. In 1853, Charles Lewis took complete control of the company and renamed it as Tiffany & Co. The store went on to acquire the Tiffany diamond in 1878 and established the ‘Tiffany setting', a six prong diamond solitaire ring in 1886. Soon in 1887, the brand became known as ‘The King of Diamonds' when it acquired some French crown jewels. The brand name achieved fame in 1961 with the film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's' where Audrey Hepburn played the role of a woman who loved the store. With fame in its pocket, the store went on to offer various wonderful designs like the Lucida in1999 and the Tiffany Legacy collection in 2003. It also opened stores across the world. In 2007, the store introduced Tiffany Novo, a cushion cut diamond ring design inspired by the famous Tiffany diamond.

Products

Tiffany offers a wide range of diamond jewelry like diamond bracelets, brooches, charms, ear rings, necklaces and pendants. The store regularly launches new jewelry designs into the market and has introduced a range of interesting key designs for pendants and ear rings too. Besides diamonds, the store also offers sterling silver, watches, men's accessories (including cuff links, writing instruments etc.) and tableware. Eye-catching patterns of diamond jewelry by renowned names like Elsa Peretti, Frank Gehry, Paloma Picasso and Jean Schlumberger are also offered and on display at the site.

Special diamond collection

For those shopping specially for diamonds, the Tiffany Diamonds collection is a good choice.

Its special diamond collection includes the Tiffany lace, Tiffany Bubbles, Tiffany celebration rings, Tiffany jazz and Tiffany Legacy. As the names imply, Tiffany lace collection offers diamonds in delicate filigree patterns while the Jazz collection offers jewels in lyrical artistry. The Bubbles collection captures the charm of bubbles in simple and elegant designs.The Legacy collection features diamond jewelry that is inspired by Edwardian designs from the Tiffany archives. The designs usually feature a cushion cut center stone surrounded by bead set diamonds. The legacy collection began with offering wedding and engagement rings, and today offers earrings, pendants and bracelets also. The store also offers Statement jewelry, where rare stones are used to create timeless jewelry. Diamonds by the Yard is another exciting collection offered by Elsa Peretti.

Certificates and warranties

Every item of jewelry purchased at the store comes with a diamond certificate from Tiffany and a lifetime warranty. The diamond certificate awarded by the company, certifies the authenticity and integrity of the diamond. The full lifetime warranty offered by the store certifies the diamond to be natural with each characteristic stated on the certificate to be correct at the time of sale. Grading certificates from renowned laboratories are however not provided. The store also offers a Tiffany Gift card that can be redeemed for its prepaid value with the store.

Services and tools

Customer service at Tiffany is reputed to be excellent and people are known to have good understanding about the various aspects of diamonds. For online shoppers, customer assistance can be availed through email and also by phone through a toll free number. Tools offered by the store include online catalogs that can easily be downloaded in PDF formats. Catalogs are classified under diverse titles to help customers easily select the styles they want. Both hand engraving and machine engraving services are offered forprecious jewelry. The store also offers personal assistance through its personal shopper feature. Customers can open their personal accounts with the store whereby they can easily shop online, track orders after purchase, save items to buy later and even receive product updates from the store. Business accounts can be opened for purchasing business gifts. The site also offers the feature of a wedding and gift registry.

Pricing

The most important issue with the site as per many customersis the price. Jewelry at Tiffany Diamonds is noted to cost higher than compared at other online stores. Also as Tiffany is an established brand, customers are unable to bargain for lowering the prices. Many also state that as there is no third party appraising involved.

Tiffany's offers a high romantic appeal as many women fall for the light blue box with the silver ribbon. The quality of products and services at the store is reputably high. However, on the flipside, prices are high too and those who have compared costs of diamonds online, will find huge price differences. But Tiffany enthusiasts state that with this brand, one pays for the brand name, the design, the experience of shopping here and the smile on the face of your loved one.