Thursday 26 May 2011

A Visit to Tiffany Jewelry Store in New York City


Breakfast at Tiffany's

One can see Tiffany jewelry store after stepping out of Mikimoto's pearl jewelry store in New York City. One has a good view of the Tiffany jewelry store

across the street on the corner and is reminded of Audrey Hepburn

and can almost see her eating her "Breakfast at Tiffanys"
from the paper bag as she gazes into the windows at the beautiful diamonds on display.

But no, Audrey isn't at here today, so we venture across the street and take a peek inside this famous store.
It's basically one huge spacious room with enormously high and open ceilings. Around the edges and in the middle are natural wood display cases...I think the natural wood is what contributes most to the feeling of tradition.

We found our way over to the Tiffany jewelry store pearl display which consisted of several units placed in sort of a square so the clerk could move freely inside, helping customers on any side.
The Tiffany jewelry store wasn't crowded with people which we were glad for allowing us more time to speak with the clerk.

All of the pearls, as I recall, in this section were sea pearls and gem quality and made up into interesting and lovely jewelry...the prices were also "pretty."
I enjoyed chatting with the middle-aged gentlemen behind the counters at Tiffany jewelry store and he was helpful in answering my questions, as there were not many other people at the moment needing his attention.


poppies and pearls The first impression I had was that of tradition...like this store has been this same way for many years...and not bent it's knee to the often disastrous trend to "modernize."Whether that's true or not, I don't know...but Tiffany jewelry store has certainly retained the sense of honor associated with this lovely old building.

I was curious if the information I had learned about pearls was the same as his understanding...names of different shapes...how they were formed...different things to look for when judging a pearl and so on. This clerk obviously wasn't a pearl expert, but was knowledgeable about them. Eventually, my questions appeared to annoy him somewhat...maybe I'm just to inquisitive, or maybe he didn't want to say, "I don't know."

When I asked about freshwater pearls...yes, they had them, but at another counter, because they weren't gem quality.
Then, since my daughter's favorite stone is opal...we looked them up and decided to move on from Tiffany jewelry store.



Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co., often considered to be the best jewelry company in the world was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in New York City in 1837.

Check out my own "Breakfast at the Ginza Tokyo Tiffany".
Here are photos of the Beverly Hills, California Tiffany store.

Tiffany stores now dot the world. See the photos I took of window displays in a Tiffany & Co store in Nagoya, Japan. You'll love the closeups of this amazing clock.

You'll also enjoy this page about my visit to the main Tiffany store in London, England. View an amazing Tiffany jewelry piece with a huge diamond.

Here are photos of the Tiffany Jewelry store at Sloane Square London.
Read about the Tiffany Queen Pearl that was found in New Jersey.

The first Tiffany jewelry store was located on 259 Broadway, New York City and had a revolutionary policy where each item's price was non-negotiable.

In 1853, Charles assumed control of the entire Tiffany jewelry store company. He also created the first retail catalog and was known for his jewelry expertise.




 
The outside of a Tiffany & Co. store in Nagoya, Japan.

Louis Comfort Tiffany

Charles' son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, (February 18, 1848 - January 17, 1933)was a famous decorative glass and lamp designer most famous for his Art Nouveau pieces in stained glass. He also painted and designed jewelry and furniture.

Louis' first artistic training was as a painter, studying under George Inness. At the age of 24 he became interested in glass making and in 1885 he founded his own glass making firm.

He invented a process for making opalescent glass, which he promoted while most other artists believed clear stained glass to be superior. Both points of view were motivated by the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement that had been founded by William Morris in England. One of Comfort's opponents in this argument was the rival glass maker John La Farge (1835-1910).In 1893 his company introduced a new technique, "Favrile", for making hand-blown vases and bowls.

Much of his other work was in making glass picture windows, but his company designed a complete range of interior decorations. He used all his skill in the design of his own house, Laurelton Hall, in Oyster Bay, Long Island, completed in 1904.

Among the companies that he founded were L.C. Tiffany & Associated Artists, the Tiffany Glass Company, Tiffany Studios, Tiffany Furnaces, and the L.C. Tiffany Furnaces.