Tiffany''s Price Reduction

jroth7 · Dec 3, 2008

I just got a call from a Tiffany and Co sales rep that they reduced their prices on 1 ct diamonds (give or take) by about 15% within the past two weeks. Their baseline started at $10,300ish before, but now it''s down to $8,500. Has anyone else seen major reductions from other retailers? They''re still overpriced relative to online retailers, but they are a lot closer now. These are strange times we are living in and I''m wondering if it would be prudent to hold off on buying an engagement ring until after Christmas. Thoughts?

neatfreak · Dec 3, 2008

Another poster mentioned this too. It is odd for sure, they must really be hurting.

joey_v · Dec 3, 2008

Nuts... I could''ve bought from Tiffanys...

arjunajane · Dec 3, 2008

Yeah, interesting - I wonder whether this will hurt their "prestige" image further - I find it odd how they're calling all these people...how/why do they have your details if you've never bought from the yet?

Dancing Fire · Dec 3, 2008

Date: 12/3/2008 10:27:31 PM
Author:jroth7
I just got a call from a Tiffany and Co sales rep that they reduced their prices on 1 ct diamonds (give or take) by about 15% within the past two weeks. Their baseline started at $10,300ish before, but now it''s down to $8,500. Has anyone else seen major reductions from other retailers? They''re still overpriced relative to online retailers, but they are a lot closer now. These are strange times we are living in and I''m wondering if it would be prudent to hold off on buying an engagement ring until after Christmas. Thoughts?

buy it if you''re planning on getting marry soon. will diamonds be cheaper in the next 2-3 yrs ? IMO...yes !

beach · Dec 4, 2008

Matters what size diamonds. A ct or less will be sightly cheaper. 2ct plus will not.... And when you say"cheaper" is it really cheaper when the value of the dollar has dropped? No

jroth7 · Dec 4, 2008

Arjunajane - I scheduled a consultation with them a few weeks ago and the sales rep let me know of the price reduction when she called to confirm the appointment. I live in Michigan so I''m sure they are hurting a little more relative to other places in the US.

Beach - I agree that there will be substantial inflationary pressure on the USD in the future, but right now we are seeing deflation in commodity prices (esp precious metals and to a lesser extent diamonds). Since the US treasury has expanded its balance sheet by over $3 trillion this year, I''m sure that the price of diamonds will recover as the inflationary pressure from the expansion in the money supply ripple through the economy. Either way, that doesn''t help me out at all right now becuase I am not making a speculative purchase to make money in the future. I want the diamond to stay on the finger it belongs to.

Dreamgirl · Dec 4, 2008

I started my own little thread over in LIW about this. I find this very exciting but when I talked to my boyfriend last night about it he said this is exciting news for us, bad news for Tiffany. He said its all about supply and demand. Their sales are already down (he and I have been keeping up on this) so they are actually hurting currently.

MichelleCarmen · Dec 4, 2008

Date: 12/3/2008 10:35:04 PM
Author: neatfreak
Another poster mentioned this too. It is odd for sure, they must really be hurting.

They''re stock is worth less than 1/2 what it was 1 year ago (and at one point it was worth only 1/3). They''re hurting like everyone else!

http://finance.google.com/finance?client=news&q=Tiffany+%26+co

decodelighted · Dec 4, 2008

I was at the flagship NYC store over the weekend and prices didn''t *look* lower to me. But they did have LUCIDA BEZEL STUDS!! (ZOMG) The tiniest ones, .80tcw were - blerg - $7800. (f/vvs?) No point in even trying those puppies on.

The store was packed but -- you can imagine, NYC/X-mas time. Imagine they''re not immune to the whole economic situation. Am seeing lots of other jewelry ads on TV. Zales/Kay/etc must be betting SOMEONE''s gonna buy SOMETHING???

Dreamgirl · Dec 4, 2008

Date: 12/4/2008 1:05:13 PM
Author: decodelighted
But they did have LUCIDA BEZEL STUDS!!

OOOOOOO

Too bad the earrings I want didn't go down in price

parapoy · Dec 8, 2008

Are the prices for Tiffany''s uniform across the country? I was told the price reduction on e-ring was about 5%.

neatfreak · Dec 8, 2008

Date: 12/8/2008 8:34:18 AM
Author: parapoy
Are the prices for Tiffany''s uniform across the country? I was told the price reduction on e-ring was about 5%.

Yes in the US at least. My guess is that on average the prices went down about 5%, with different specs going down a bit more or less than that? But just a guess.

Ty Cobb · Dec 8, 2008

Yeah they are hurting like everyone else. However, not as bad as others. I haven''t heard of any of their stores closing yet, though there have been reports that Cartier and BB&B may soon be closing stores.

As for if this is really a price drop--yes, the buying power of the dollar has no bearing on it, unless your cash flow has been reduced, plus if the value of the dollar was affecting it, the price would go up.

cup_of_t · Dec 8, 2008

eh?

certainly not something ive heard about from within the company, but then tiffany in america is completely different from internationally. the only price reduction we''ve had recently is the change in vat!

neatfreak · Dec 8, 2008

Date: 12/8/2008 3:45:14 PM
Author: cup_of_t
eh?

certainly not something ive heard about from within the company, but then tiffany in america is completely different from internationally. the only price reduction we''ve had recently is the change in vat!

Yup, in the US the engagement ring prices have dropped recently.

cup_of_t · Dec 8, 2008

cheeky! i hope they dont do that here anytime soon, if i have to label another few thousand items with new prices, i''ll explode!

oldmancoyote · Dec 8, 2008

Don''t tell me you relabelled everything with 2.5% less - isn''t it simpler to just have a code system where the price plus VAT and any one-off discounts is worked out on a computer, since the consumer is unlikely to put their hands on the goods without assistance?

diagem · Dec 8, 2008

Date: 12/8/2008 3:53:51 PM
Author: cup_of_t
cheeky! i hope they dont do that here anytime soon, if i have to label another few thousand items with new prices, i''ll explode!

Why..., when was the last time you did? Or..., how many times previously?

CCNZ · Dec 8, 2008

Tiffanys in the UK have increased their prices by around 10-15% in the last month.
Apparently due to the exchange rate.

cup_of_t · Dec 9, 2008

we had a price change at the end of november (exchange rate and commodities is the official line i believe) and then we had to label everything again with the VAT cut.

and yes- youd think a till system would be easier but several of the London stores are concessions and use department store tills so need to have the correct prices.

also, actually, as a company theyve dropped the prices more than 2.5% because its easier to deal with rounded numbers such as £5 or £10. I doubt very much that something which was £75 and dropped to £70 had a drop of only -2.5% so in some cases its actually better.

trust me, as an employee price changes are the last thing we want - firstly because of ticketing and secondly because customers get angry. as a salesperson in london i have very, very VERY little input as to what happens in all the boardrooms.

diagem · Dec 9, 2008

Date: 12/10/2008 2:11:14 AM
Author: cup_of_t
we had a price change at the end of november (exchange rate and commodities is the official line i believe) and then we had to label everything again with the VAT cut.

and yes- youd think a till system would be easier but several of the London stores are concessions and use department store tills so need to have the correct prices.

also, actually, as a company theyve dropped the prices more than 2.5% because its easier to deal with rounded numbers such as £5 or £10. I doubt very much that something which was £75 and dropped to £70 had a drop of only -2.5% so in some cases its actually better.

trust me, as an employee price changes are the last thing we want - firstly because of ticketing and secondly because customers get angry. as a salesperson in london i have very, very VERY little input as to what happens in all the boardrooms.

Tanya..., as a Tiffany employee..., feel free/comfortable not to answer...
But if you choose to answer...,

Which style (or which collection) is a hot seller in the engagement ring category?
Which Diamond shapes other than rounds are in demand?
If not Diamonds..., which colored gem stones are the most demanded and what shapes?

Thanks,

cup_of_t · Dec 10, 2008

Tanya..., as a Tiffany employee..., feel free/comfortable not to answer...

But if you choose to answer...,

Which style (or which collection) is a hot seller in the engagement ring category?

Which Diamond shapes other than rounds are in demand?

If not Diamonds..., which colored gem stones are the most demanded and what shapes?

i feel perfectly free to answer - i get asked those questions every day in the shop!

the classic is the best seller. a little because of the style and a little because of the inventory range - we have more classics than anything else and can pretty much find any weight/colour/clarity.

the novo has been really, really popular (at one point this year we had less than 15 left in the country) but a lot of people ask for asscher which we dont do. people often come in saying that they want princess but more often than not end up with either the novo or the classic instead. not sure why?

with engagement most people still go for diamonds but i guess sapphires are the next favourite. with the legacy setting, or as part of a three stone (rb or emerald). a lot of people ask to see tanzanite but we really only have the odd piece (legacy or travelling collections). an awful lot of people ask for ruby as well, but owing to the new law in america we have very little ruby left in the inventory and wont be buying any more in the near future.

diagem · Dec 10, 2008

Date: 12/11/2008 2:36:03 AM
Author: cup_of_t

i feel perfectly free to answer - i get asked those questions every day in the shop!

the classic is the best seller. a little because of the style and a little because of the inventory range - we have more classics than anything else and can pretty much find any weight/colour/clarity.

the novo has been really, really popular (at one point this year we had less than 15 left in the country) but a lot of people ask for asscher which we dont do. people often come in saying that they want princess but more often than not end up with either the novo or the classic instead. not sure why?

with engagement most people still go for diamonds but i guess sapphires are the next favourite. with the legacy setting, or as part of a three stone (rb or emerald). a lot of people ask to see tanzanite but we really only have the odd piece (legacy or travelling collections). an awful lot of people ask for ruby as well, but owing to the new law in america we have very little ruby left in the inventory and wont be buying any more in the near future.

Thanks for the info...

I wonder why Tiffany does not design with Asschers..., the did not use Princess cuts until a short while ago, but decided to do so based on the demand...

If you ask me..., I think the Asscher Cut is much more suitable for Tiffany''s than the Princess Cut!

Garry H (Cut Nut) · Dec 11, 2008

Date: 12/11/2008 2:36:03 AM
Author: cup_of_t
Tanya..., as a Tiffany employee..., feel free/comfortable not to answer...

But if you choose to answer...,

Which style (or which collection) is a hot seller in the engagement ring category?

Which Diamond shapes other than rounds are in demand?

If not Diamonds..., which colored gem stones are the most demanded and what shapes?

i feel perfectly free to answer - i get asked those questions every day in the shop!

the classic is the best seller. a little because of the style and a little because of the inventory range - we have more classics than anything else and can pretty much find any weight/colour/clarity.

the novo has been really, really popular (at one point this year we had less than 15 left in the country) but a lot of people ask for asscher which we dont do. people often come in saying that they want princess but more often than not end up with either the novo or the classic instead. not sure why?

with engagement most people still go for diamonds but i guess sapphires are the next favourite. with the legacy setting, or as part of a three stone (rb or emerald). a lot of people ask to see tanzanite but we really only have the odd piece (legacy or travelling collections). an awful lot of people ask for ruby as well, but owing to the new law in america we have very little ruby left in the inventory and wont be buying any more in the near future.

And the Tiffany Lucida - Cup of Tea - that is not travelling so well - it does not satisfy asscher lovers either?

BTW here is an excellent review of what is going on in the GFC and its impact on Tiffany in the developwed world.
http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=31597
I think it is clear and apparent that Tiffany will survive and continue to thrive once all the mess is sorted out.

Strangely though I am surprised that Tiffany have suffered such a loss of sales as in tough times there should be a flight from pure fashion - hand bags and shoes etc - to "fewer better things" (to quote a big diamond gorilla). so far, touch wood, my own retail diamond sales are reasonably strong.

cup_of_t · Dec 11, 2008

As with the Novo, I''m sure they will continue as a company to bring out new styles every now and then....

The Lucida is very popular, as is the Legacy (although I mentioned neither in the above post), but the Classic does remain the most popular and probably always will!

diagem · Dec 11, 2008

Date: 12/12/2008 4:23:38 AM
Author: cup_of_t
As with the Novo, I''m sure they will continue as a company to bring out new styles every now and then....

The Lucida is very popular, as is the Legacy (although I mentioned neither in the above post), but the Classic does remain the most popular and probably always will!

From these two "Tiffany" Diamond cuts (one is a Tiffany..., one is an exclusive license)..., which is in your opinion more popular?

cup_of_t · Dec 11, 2008

Date: 12/12/2008 4:32:11 AM
Author: DiaGem

Date: 12/12/2008 4:23:38 AM

Author: cup_of_t

As with the Novo, I''m sure they will continue as a company to bring out new styles every now and then....

The Lucida is very popular, as is the Legacy (although I mentioned neither in the above post), but the Classic does remain the most popular and probably always will!

Click to expand...

From these two ''Tiffany'' Diamond cuts (one is a Tiffany..., one is an exclusive license)..., which is in your opinion more popular?

Thats a very difficult question, they''re so completely different! I think that the settings sway people more than the cuts in many cases. The antique feel of the Legacy suits a completely different person to the more modern Lucida. I''d also say that the Novo gets in between them - if the Lucida is too chunky but they dont want the ornate Legacy, then they tend to go more towards the Novo.

In general, my customers have never gone for a ring for the cut''s sake, its always been the style of the ring that they feel would be better suited to their girlfriend. When the girls are choosing too, it tends to be more emotive than the cold hard science behind it.

Personally, although I''m slightly biased, I do prefer the Legacy. BUT, I prefer the coloured stones in the setting - I prefer the Lucida cut to the Legacy cut (although in the larger sizes, say 3ct +, you can lose yourself staring inside the Legacy, it keeps on swirling down to the bottom of the stone). If I could have a Lucida in the Legacy or Novo setting I''d be a happy bunny, but the Lucida setting is too chunky for me.

Tiffany''s Price Reduction

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