I don''t know if anyone cares, but Tiffany is raising prices this week!

[neatfreak]

I was in Tiffs today and the saleswoman told me that many of their prices are going up at the end of the week, including their erings.

Just an FYI for any lurkers out there thinking about buying a Tiffany ring in the near future!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, rats!!! I guess my new 2 ct. Novo will have to wait!

 

[Harriet]

Darn -- I''ve been eyeing their Novo eternities.

 

[neatfreak]

I know

I''ve been eyeing the bezel set jazz eternity band. Love it.

 

[diamondfan]

would this include their silver stuff etc?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 5/14/2007 9:57:23 PM
Author: diamondfan
would this include their silver stuff etc?

The saleswoman said that the silver was going up too. But she just mentioned it in passing, so we didn''t get into the details of whether it was ALL the silver or just some pieces.

 

[starryeyed]

This is a great tip! Thanks!

 

[kcoursolle]

Hmmmm, yup still doesn''t apply to me LOL! I''m sure this will help someone though!

 

[Madam Bijoux]

They really know how to torment people.

 

[Nicrez]

My guess is that they are slowly trying to weed out the silver buyers and recreate the luxury name brand that slipped since the silver boom. This has been a quest for sometime, but I can imagine that because the profits from silver were the highest in percentages, stockholders and the board were a bit reluctant to phase it out 100%. Pricing to a higher market is usually the easiest way, and then doing it slowly is the smoother way to implement. Don't be surprised if they increase on silver in less than a year as well...

 

[Ty Cobb]

actually, I would be surprised if they are taking that route. As a lot of the stock analyst and investment people are touting how they have worked their way into middle class luxury while maintaning the high end luxury image as being the key to their future growth and success. I can''t imagine they are going to reverse course and price themselves out of the very market they have been working themselves into the last 5-10 years.

 

[fanboy]

Date: 5/15/2007 11:25:13 AM
Author: Ty Cobb
actually, I would be surprised if they are taking that route. As a lot of the stock analyst and investment people are touting how they have worked their way into middle class luxury while maintaning the high end luxury image as being the key to their future growth and success. I can''t imagine they are going to reverse course and price themselves out of the very market they have been working themselves into the last 5-10 years.

I imagine long-term brand dilution is a real problem though. Building the middle-class base through high-margin silver sales was only possible by leveraging Tiffany''s high-end image. If Tiffany''s market base becomes increasingly middle-class, it''s high-end image weakens. When this happens, the middle-class market base is less incented to pay the premium for Tiffany''s name that allows for its high-margin sales in the low-end possible in the first place. The end result, in the worst case scenario? Tiffany''s can attract neither middle-class nor high-end business in sufficient quantities to remain profitable.

 

[chrono]

Deco,
If you are reading, you''d better hurry up and buy that Lucida bezeled pendant!

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 5/15/2007 12:21:04 PM
Author: Chrono
Deco,
If you are reading, you''d better hurry up and buy that Lucida bezeled pendant!

That''s exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Nicrez]

Date: 5/15/2007 11:25:13 AM
Author: Ty Cobb
actually, I would be surprised if they are taking that route. As a lot of the stock analyst and investment people are touting how they have worked their way into middle class luxury while maintaning the high end luxury image as being the key to their future growth and success. I can't imagine they are going to reverse course and price themselves out of the very market they have been working themselves into the last 5-10 years.

Ty, the market they have gone into was to reach a level of market they wanted, to expand to the level they have (middle class luxury). However, I think anyone here will readily admit that it was not what they had expected, and instead it caused a backlash of imitations and a different sort of client base then they wanted. They had not been looking for the teenagers, as much as the younger business class, yet, right now, their image has slipped based on the number of people who have bought their silver goods, and the number of people who are wearing the fakes. These also help to drop their image based on quality issues.

As such, they were built on high luxury name recognition a century ago. That has and always will be their prime focus. They continue to grow their statement pieces category, as the silver (although in percentage) is the highest, in revenue is their lowest. It's a tiny portion of their market when it comes to income, and to price it out, would be their smartest bet to bring their image back to the higher end. After all that it comes down to profitability, and in order to do so, they will have to sell more diamond jewlery, more engagement rings and more colored gemstone jewlery. They have brought on Gehry to invigorate the designers' pool, but his designs are not cheap. In the end, their big push should be to price out silver jewlery goods (not entirely, but significantly, perhaps growing it in foreign markets like China) and strengthen their diamond jewlery sales in RHR, and E-rings, as well as gemstone.

I don't blame them. For the limited amount the silver has produced based on total profit, it's not worth the lowered image they are suffering.

 

[Ty Cobb]

How is raising the price on their silver going to cut back on imitators unless you mean they are planning to discontinue their silver jewelry?

Personally, I think this is a risk for them. A lot of young business people I know had to work themselves into thinking they could afford Tiffany, and the $360 silver cuff bracelet or $250 earings or such was how they got into it, long before they ever would have imagined buying an engagement ring from Tiffs.

I see the point you are making, however, I feel that they are making a killing on their Silver Jewelry right now. Afterall, it is the cheapest jewelry they produce and the most mobile of all of their products. While they definitely make a larger profit per item on the high end stuff, they are doing a huge amount of business right now in just their silver jewelry. Plus, when you examine the effects this could have on their quarterly market reports, lets be honest here, high end jewelry purchases are seasonal in nature, Christmas, valentines, mothers day, spring etc, I think they may regret this decision long term.

But we shall see. I can definitely understand their concern if they feel their brand is being diminished, however, I don''t get that impression of Tiffs, though I am hardly the one who would notice.