Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany and Co. was founded on September 18, 1837, by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young as a "fancy goods" store on Broadway in New York City. It opened with $1,000 in seed capital and posted a modest $4.98 in sales on its first day. Within a decade, it had become a silversmith and jeweler of note, and in 1848 Charles Tiffany acquired a large tranche of French crown jewels being sold off in the political turmoil following the overthrow of King Louis-Philippe. The purchase established the brand's early claim to a kind of democratized access to historic prestige: rare objects available to an American merchant class that had no aristocracy of its own. The late 19th and early 20th century transformed the brand under the artistic direction of Charles's son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, one of the defining figures of American Art Nouveau. Louis's stained glass lamps, mosaic work, and jewelry set a visual language for Tiffany that emphasized color, natural forms, and handcraft at a scale few luxury houses have matched. In 1886, the house introduced the Tiffany Setting, a six-prong solitaire ring mount designed to elevate the diamond off the band and allow light to pass through it from all directions. It became the global template for engagement ring design and remains in production today. Tiffany and Co. was acquired by LVMH in January 2021 in a transaction valued at approximately $15.8 billion, the largest acquisition in the luxury conglomerate's history. Under LVMH's ownership, the brand undertook a significant repositioning effort, updating the store aesthetic, expanding its men's range, and launching a series of high-profile ambassador campaigns. Rosé of BLACKPINK became one of the most visible of these ambassadors, her association with Tiffany extending the brand's reach into the Korean and broader Asian luxury consumer market at a moment when that segment was setting global spending records.