TiffanyAndCo

A reader submitted the following letter to Luxist's Unexpected Treasures column and CIRCA agreed to help us evaluate:

Going through some old "junk" chests I had I came upon a few of interesting pieces I thought I would submit.

The first piece is an 18K gold Zenith wristwatch. The watch belonged to my grandfather and I believe it is pre 1930. Upon further inspection (I am a watch aficionado) I believe it uses a Valjoux .22 Calibre Chronograph movement (I could definitely be wrong). The watch does not have a model or serial number as is common with a lot of older timepieces. I have not been able to find much information on the piece online so any help you and circa could provide would be wonderful.

The second piece is a Tiffany's sterling silver bean clutch purse designed by Elsa Peretti. Elsa was a good friend of my mothers and gifted the purse to her in the late 70s or early 80's (as the stamp on the back of the purse suggests.)

The third piece are a pair of Tiffany's earrings made out of palladium(stamped in the back), designed by Paloma Picasso, also gifted to my mother by Elsa.

I would love to see what circa has to say about these pieces and they certainly were an unexpected treasures.

Best Regards,
Federico

Click through for the response from CIRCA...

Two years ago tennis player Maria Sharapova signed with Tiffany & Co. Since then she has worn a variety of Tiffany & Co. diamond earrings out onto the court. For this year's U.S. Open she is wearing yellow diamond drop earrings that feature both yellow and white diamonds set in 18 karat gold and platinum. "Wearing Tiffany diamonds on or off the court is always a special experience," Sharapova said in a press release. "The addition of colored diamonds makes the jewelry even more extraordinary." The earrings sell for $16,100.

Tiffany & Co., our favorite place to have breakfast, has unveiled their Holiday collection for 2010. The launch was a champagne and mini cupcake-fueled affair, and jewels sparkled at every turn, lit by the many flashbulbs and Blackberrys in constant use by the media attendees. It was Christmas (or your holiday of choice) in July at its finest.

The collection, undeniably Tiffanian, was full of geometric florals and art deco-inspired pieces, many of them looking like they could have come straight from the 1920s or 1930s. Colored precious stones glittered in decadent abundance, as did architectural golden wires and, of course, ice-white Tiffany diamonds, often contrasted with deep blues.

One of our top picks was the dazzling necklace above in Tiffany's signature turquoise-blue, designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. The necklace features meticulously selected turquoise and hundreds of glittering diamonds set in 18k yellow gold and platinum, and retails for $125,000.00.

Check out more of our favorites in the gallery below, and be sure and send your picks to your friends and family (so they can start saving up).

Women aren't the only ones who love little blue boxes from Tiffany's. The 2009 New Orleans Saints got their Super Bowl XLIV championship rings at a ceremony at the city's Roosevelt Hotel on Wednesday June 16. The rings were designed by Tiffany & Co. and feature a bunch of touches that resonate with fans of the Saints and their city. The rings are yellow gold and feature the New Orleans Saints fleur-de-lis logo set with round diamonds. The words "world champions" are set into the bezel of the ring with eight diamonds on each side (a total of 16 symbolizing the games the Saints won during the season). The rings also bear the score of the game, the NFL shield, images of the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square and the Louisiana Superdome, a scene from the championship parade and the first few notes of the song "When The Saints Come Marching In." The underside of the ring bears inscriptions of team mottoes from last season: Be Special; Finish Strong; and Smell Greatness.

No precise estimate was given but they are believed to have a value of around $30,000 each. One ring wasn't there, it will be raffled off to raise money to benefit the relief efforts for the Gulf Coast oil spill. The winner will be announced at the nationally televised New Orleans Saints season opener on September 9, 2010. The winner will receive the ring and a cash prize in the amount of $2,178 to mitigate the winner's tax liability that results from winning the raffle. The proceeds benefit the New Orleans Saints Charitable Foundation and the Celebrities for Charity Foundation. Raffle tickets are $2 each with a minimum order of 5 tickets. The Saints organization hopes to raise as much as $1 million through the effort.

On Monday, Tiffany will launch its first iPhone app, not surprisingly focused on the acquisition of engagement rings.

The app seems to have the potential to be useful to those earnestly seeking engagement rings, and those looking make trouble for the soon-to-be betrothed.

I'd divide these categories roughly by gender, and say that this app could be the most useful for the menfolk.

He, who is most likely uneducated on the subjects of the on-hand impact of one carat versus two, not to mention shape, setting, metal or design, will be able to see rings in their actual size. (With price range.) Also, there's the "ring sizer" -- he only needs to snag a ring from the beloved for a few moments, place it on the iPhone screen, and line it up with circles corresponding to ring size. He can also make an appointment for a consultation right through the app.

As the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit got underway all old was new again. This is a crowd much shaken by the fickle consumer but also ready to focus on the future. They want your dollars, luxury consumer, and they are tentatively certain you might be ready to spend them again. But they also know that you've changed.

Cynthia McFarlane, President, Saatchi & Saatchi Latin America, broke down the results of her survey of luxury consumers around the world and found some core points of global connection. Customers want what is classic, quality and a known quantity. And yet, they want to be surprised, they want to be dazzled, they want thrills. They want choice, but not too much choice, deals but not discounts. It's all a bit confusing for brands trying to maintain consistency while creating the excitement luxury consumers need to see.

One things interesting to note across the panels was that when it came to discussions of successful luxury one name kept coming up, Hermes. Luxury advisor Michel Gutsatz praised the brand for its integration of ad campaigns, website and stores to create a distinctive unified brand. William S. Taubman, the Chief Operating Officer of the Taubman Centers chain of shopping centers also highlighted the brand for its commitment to quality and authenticity. Time and again the distinctive orange brand received accolades. Louis Vuitton also got approving nods for focusing on core values of craftsmanship, a message neatly shown off in their recent ad campaign featuring everyone from famous astronauts to Baryshnikov. Pretty amazing that the future of luxury branding is being shown by luxury brands with very long histories. Another brand often discussed was Apple. Why Apple? Because nobody gets Apple discounts and that itself is a form of luxury and a little bit of magic that other brands would love to emulate.

According to Tiffany & Co. the luxury market is back on track as the brand reported more than quadruple profits in November, December, and January, with business growing in almost all areas and shares doubling over the last year. Sales were especially good in Europe (up 29%), in part thanks to the opening of new stores in Amsterdam and Heathrow Airport, plus the Far East returned good numbers and the company flagship in New York made a comeback of 22%.

There's still ground to be made up, however, as profit was still lower than expected (they planned on more than quadruple?) all while expenses and costs went up. But overall Tiffany is looking forward to a bright future, with company chairman and chief executive Michael Kowalski saying "We were very pleased with the sales results in the fourth quarter," and citing plans to continue expanding the global store base in 2010 and to remain both competitive and profitable.

Breakfast at Tiffany's? It was more like disaster at Tiffany's early Saturday morning when, as the NY Daily News reports, an off-duty cop was driving a Chrysler 300 which hit a garbage truck, flipped over and crashed into the iconic Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue. The officer, Raphael Ospina, and his two passengers were all rushed to the hospital but their injuries were not believed to be life threatening. A champagne cork and a carton of orange juice were found inside the car (mimosas, anyone?) and Ospina was charged with both driving while intoxicated and vehicular assault. The Tiffany & Co. Fifth Avenue storefront was damaged in the crash, ABC News has video of what looks like a very serious accident.

With its trademark blue boxes and over a century of luxury lore behind it, Tiffany & Co. is perhaps the world's most identifiable emporium of opulence. Above all, Tiffany is known for its jewelry, which made up 87% of the company's revenues last year. Unsurprisingly, Tiffany is a finalist in Luxist's Best Jewelry category.

Founded by Charles Louis Tiffany in 1837, the store's first day receipts totaled $4.98. But Tiffany soon found success. By 1851, Tiffany became the first company to institute the silver standard that was eventually adopted by the U.S. By the turn of the 20^th Century, Tiffany had moved into a spacious new Manhattan headquarters, which it outgrew by 1940.

The following years saw Tiffany & Co. grow as an icon with the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn. Flush with success, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1987.

The company is now known by its style which has long been defined by groundbreaking designers (Louis C. Tiffany, Jean Schlumberger, Paloma Picasso, Elsa Peretti and Frank Gehry, to name a few). It is also known for its glamorous collections that are now classics, from the Atlas, Classic, Etoile and Open Heart to the Tiffany Keys collection (above) which are innately chic pendants and charms inspired by Tiffany's archives.

Shares debuted at a split-adjusted $1.91, and have since soared some 2,000% despite the recent recession. Today, the company's current New York flagship store accounts for roughly one-tenth of the company's net sales. Tiffany & Co. boasts 85 other stores in the U.S., 96 in the Asia-Pacific region and 24 in Europe. Its signature jewelry, most notably its famed engagement rings and statement diamonds, still come in the same Tiffany blue boxes.

Cast your vote for the Readers' Choice Awards at http://www.luxist.com/awards-vote/accessories-awards.

It looks like luxury retail is getting ready for a comeback. Shoppers in enviable tax brackets are doing a better job of prying their wallets open, at least if you can believe their stock prices. Tiffany, Saks and Nordstrom all showed signs of progress heading into Black Friday, meaning that investors were willing to bet on the wealthy.

Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak, explained to USA Today, "We're resting our (upbeat outlook) on the upper-income consumer, who seems to be holding up pretty well." This group, he continued, "is where the vast majority of spending in this country is done."

Research firm Penn Schoen Berland weighed in with agreement: "Well-to-do Americans are feeling much less of a crunch." Households with incomes of greater than $70,000 a year, the firm found, planned to amp up their holiday spending by 27 percent this year. Those with incomes below $40,000 are cutting their holiday joy by 14 percent.

While the bargain hunters turn to the discount retailers, which are expected to do well this year, look for the higher-income consumers to spend more at places like Williams-Sonoma and other mid-range to upscale retail establishments.

So, with deeper pockets starting to open this year, it looks like the wealthy will turn last year's holiday bust around. A good holiday season for Saks shows that those with the bucks are starting to open up, and recoveries start at the top.

Tiffany & Co. is a nominee for a Luxist Award in both the dishware and glassware categories.

Over the past two centuries, Tiffany & Co. has built an international reputation as a premier jeweler and is renowned for its fine china and crystal. Today, its signature blue gift box topped by the white silky bow is an icon for luxury.

Tiffany & Co. was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in the late 1830's. Starting out as a stationary and fancy goods store, the partners soon expanded to include silver hollowware and flatware, and later jewelry, luxury table, personal and household accessories. Tiffany first achieved international recognition at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1867. The company was then awarded the grand prize for silver craftsmanship---the first time an American design house had been so honored by a foreign jury. By 1870, Tiffany & Co. was America's premier purveyor of jewels and timepieces, as well as luxury table, personal, and household accessories.

Throughout the jeweler's history, the most prominent members of American society were devoted Tiffany customers from Vanderbilts, Astors and Whitneys to J.P. Morgan, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Paul Mellon, all of whom commissioned Tiffany to produce their gold and silver services. Tiffany china has also set the stage for countless White House dinners.

The tradition continues into the 21st century. Today, Tiffany & Co. is one of America's best known institutions.

Tiffany & Company showed off their designs this week for their latest store in Las Vegas, a new approximately 10,000-square-foot store at the CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-level store will be located in Crystals, CityCenter's 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district which was designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Rockwell Group. The store is set to open in December and will have an 85-foot-high glass facade which is shaped like a diamond. The overall effect is luxe with a bit of Vegas flash, the entrance will be gleaming black granite around Art Deco-inspired stainless steel doors and inside etched mirror walls, iridescent fabrics and glittering chandeliers add sparkle. The second floor will be reached via a spiral steel-and-glass staircase that is lit from underneath. There is a separate engagement ring salon and a private sales salon with can be reached via a glass bridge. This will be the third Tiffany store in Las Vegas there are two other shops on the Strip, one at the Shops at Via Bellagio and one at The Forum Shops at Caesars but this is the largest one yet. JCK Online has more pictures of the interior renderings.

Sharing the Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles with a grocery store (Gelson's) doesn't seem to bother Tiffany & Co. but the jeweler draws the line at H&M getting too close. The LA Times reveals that Tiffany has sued its landlord at the Westfield Century City shopping center saying that a planned H&M would violate the terms of its contract. Tiffany's contract with Westfield forbids retailers that are not considered to be "luxury, upscale or better by conventional retail industry standards." to use or lease certain spaces within, fronting or adjacent to the Tiffany store. The lawsuit alleges that the location of the H&M store so close to Tiffany will cause "irreparable injury to Tiffany's business reputation as a luxury retailer."

The LA Times keenly points out that in Pasadena along Colorado Boulevard, the H&M store and Tiffany are very close to each other. Also, while H&M is a low-priced retailer, the store's focus on trendy style isn't offensively downmarket. Tiffany's lawsuit seems to imply that the H&M shopper and the Tiffany shopper are such separate people that they don't mingle or that somehow a person who buys a $19 sweater instantly becomes a Tiffany undesirable. It seems an odd distinction for a brand that had spent the last couple years reaching out to the aspirational consumer and bumping up its line of silver jewelry in order to attract new customers. Certainly there is a gap between a silver necklace and a $19 sweater but these days plenty of malls and shopping centers feature both expensive stores and lower market ones reflecting today's affluent shopper who often purchases at both ends of the spectrum.

Think Tiffany's & Co. and you probably think fine jewelry, diamonds, and little blue boxes. But they have other offerings as well, some of them not what you'd expect, like this 1837 Tennis Ball Can. Designed to hold 4 tennis balls and keep them at optimal playing temperature, the can couldn't be simpler in design. Made of sterling silver shined to perfection, one of the tennis ball can's few adornments is a Tiffany's logo stamped on the lid along with the numbers 925 and 1837. $1,500

Here is a limited edition (16 pieces only) watch from Tiffany & Co. that shows how well their partnership with the Swatch Group is working out (where they now get movements). The Mark Perpetual Calendar TriRetrograde Chronograph watch is an advancement on the previous Mark T-57 TriRetrograde Chronograph. This new model has a movement that not only maintains the retrograde chronograph complication, but also adds a perpetual calendar complete with a moon phase indicator in the mix. Despite the many pieces of information displayed on the dial, Tiffany & Co. designers keep the watch face looking attractive.

The Tiffany & Co. Mark line has always been about modern classics, and this new model is no different. While the Mark T-57 line has been all about sport, the main Mark line is a sober approach at handsome looks. The case is available in 18k yellow or rose gold, with well done squared pushers. The partially guilloche engraved dial helps to frame the Roman numerals around the face, while aperture window placement on the dial is laid out according to the movement specifications below. This design was never intended to be a symmetrical looking watch, and rather, it excels at appearing like a gentleman's tool valuing function and luxury above anything else. Hopefully Tiffany will eventually release more than 16 of these watches.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.