Tiffany & Co.  is a U.S. jewelry and silverware company founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City in 1837 as a “stationery and fancy goods

emporium.”
The store initially sold a wide variety of stationery items, and operated as Tiffany, Young and Ellis in lower Manhattan. The name was shortened to Tiffany & Co in 1853 when Charles Tiffany took control, and the firm’s emphasis on jewelry was established. Tiffany & Co. has since opened stores in major cities all over the world. At some point, it was acquired by Philadelphia-based investment company Bankers Securities Corporation.
As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue color, which is a registered trademark.
Type Public (NYSE: TIF)
Founded September 18, 1837, in New York City, New York
Headquarters New York City, New York United States
Key people Michael J. Kowalski, Chairman & CEO
James E. Quinn, President
Charles Lewis Tiffany, Founder
John B. Young, Founder
Industry Jewellers and silversmiths
Products Diamonds
Jewelry
Tableware
Gifts and Accessories
Silver items
Revenue $2.938 billion USD (2007)
Employees 7,000 (12/31/2004)
Website www.tiffany.com
Flagship store
Tiffany and Co.’s flagship store in New York City.Tiffany’s flagship store (since 1940) is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The former Tiffany and Company Building on 38th Street is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The polished granite exterior is well known for its tiny window displays. The store has been the location for a number of films including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn, and Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon. As of 1993 the New York City Branch has ran a Cafe honoring Audrey Hepburn. The Cafe Named “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. However, the Cafe serves lunches as well.
Other locations
As of January 31, 2007, the Company operated 64 Tiffany & Co. stores in the U.S., which totaled approximately 486,000 gross square feet, and 103 Tiffany & Co. international stores, which totaled approximately 306,000 gross square feet.
When it opened in 1990, the Tiffany & Co. store at Fairfax Square in Tysons Corner, VA became the largest outside of New York with 14,500 sq ft (1,350 m2) of retail space.
Tiffany & Co. reported in 2006 that its location at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA was its most profitable location followed by its New York City flagship, Boston Copley Place, and Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu.
Tiffany & Co. has announced its second store opening in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on September 2007, coinciding with the shopping mall opening. The store has 1,700 sq ft (160 m2). retail space and features the same decor elements as its New York flagship. Recently opened stores in the United States include one at The Natick Collection in Natick, MA which opened in September 2007, Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, and at the Providence Place mall in Providence, R.I., both opened in November 2007. There is a Tiffany store in Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow airport which opened at the end of March 2008. A store was opened at 37 King Street, Perth, Western Australia, on July 24, 2008.
Tiffany & Co. are set to open their flagship Irish store on Dublin’s Grafton Street in October 2008. It will be the biggest of the group’s European outlets. In October 2008, Tiffany’s opened a store in Madrid, Spain, and brought the Tiffany Diamond to the opening.
Diamonds
Tiffany designs were worn by such famous US families as the Astors, the Vanderbilts, Posts, Huttons and the Morgans. Athletes, Hollywood stars, and even European royalty adored these diamonds. Museums valued the Tiffany designs, which ranged from the Art Nouveau period to Art Deco to today’s modern styles.
A Tiffany’s gemologist was instrumental in the international adoption of the metric carat as a weight standard for gems, and the Tiffany standard for sterling and platinum have been adopted as United States Standards.
The 128.54 carats (25.71 g) Fancy Yellow Tiffany Diamond is usually on display in the New York City flagship store.
Dates of interest
The first Tiffany catalog, known as the “Blue Book”, was published in 1845. It is still being published today.
In 1862 Tiffany & Co. supplied the Union Army with swords, flags and surgical implements.
In 1867 Tiffany & Co. was the first U.S. firm to win an award for the excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
In 1877, an insignia that would become the famous New York Yankees “NY” logo was struck on a medal of honor by Tiffany & Co. and issued to the first NYC police officer shot in the line of duty. The Yankees adopted the logo in 1909.
The company revised the Great Seal of the United States in 1885.
In 1968, U.S. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson commissioned Tiffany to design a White House china service, which featured 90 flowers.
In June 2004, the jeweler Tiffany & Co. sued eBay, claiming that eBay profits from the sale of counterfeit Tiffany products. As of July 2006, a trial date has not been set.
On January 28, 2008, it was announced that the Japanese mobile phone operator SoftBank and Tiffany & Co. had collaborated in making a limited 10 model-only cellphone. This cellphone contains more than 400 diamonds, totaling more than 20 karats. The cost is said to be more than 100,000,000 yen.

Louis Comfort Tiffany

(1848 – 1933)

Born in New York City, Louis Comfort Tiffany was the eldest son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, who had founded Tiffany & Co in 1837. Raised in an atmosphere of tremendous wealth and expensive taste, Tiffany was a natural aesthete, and opted against joining his father’s company in favor of studying the fine arts.

Popularity: 1% [?]