Even from its earliest days, the Tiffany company deemed itself a “fancy goods emporium” – but 175 years ago the global economy was such that one of the luxury items it could be famous for was one we would consider quite commonplace these days: paper stationary. Founded as Tiffany, Young and Ellis back in 1837, the firm’s first store opened up in New York City’s Lower Manhattan.
Sixteen years later, Charles Tiffany took over from his partners and firmly established its emphasis on jewelry and polished diamonds. The company’s namesake Fancy Yellow Tiffany Diamond weighs 128.54 carats, and is generally on display in the flagship New York City store.
One of the ways Tiffany distinguished itself from the start was by clearly indicating the prices on the items being sold – a rarity then – and by refusing to sell items on credit, insisting on cash only.
A little-known interesting fact about Tiffany’s: In its fortieth year, in 1877, it created a medal of honor with an insignia with the letters ‘NY’, which the New York Yankees professional baseball team adopted as its own logo 32 years later in 1909. Its staff also redesigned the United States of America’s Great Seal and its Medal of Honor.
The firm was sold to Avon Products in 1978 for just over $100 million in company stock, but was re-sold only six years later, in 1984, to a group of investors. Three years later, in 1987, the company went public. It now has retail outlets in cities all over the world, including London, Melbourne, Honolulu and Kuala Lumpur.
