May I ask why you're asking, @Maggiemeans ? Tiffany's long standing policy is that they will not haggle; even in the last recession, their firm stance was that "the price is what's marked":
Actually, on the wholesale level everyone seems to be using the Rapaport Price List (RPL), actually and unfortunately, they all also seem to depend on it
A few years ago I had a discussion with some large diamond manufactures and I claimed (still relevant today) that most diamond companies wouldn’t know how to value their diamonds if you took the RPL sheets away from them (or their desks). So sad but so true!!
Basically on a wholesale level no one speaks of dollar values, the majority speaks of discount percentages off RPL (like minus 20% from Rapaport).
Once we are talking retail level than houses like Tiffany & Co. et-al probably don’t utilize the RPL in order to set retail prices to their products but many smaller independents still do.
Since they also don't sell loose diamonds (only complete pieces as far as I know) they price for the "whole piece". So it's really hard to know the price of the diamond vs. the price of the setting. I have heard that some have taken their engagement rings back to Tiffany to have the setting upgraded (like from the solitaire to a Soleste) and I'm curious what they were charged for the setting change. That would give a better idea of what they charge for the diamond if you did some comparisons. Either way, it's hefty. You are def. paying for the "brand".
Rapaport is a set of reference numbers for professional diamond traders. It is not a real price list, but a compilation of researched highest "asking prices" which have a meaningful, yet distant, relationship with actual transaction prices. Referring to the Rap price list is a typical exercise everyone in diamonds does, but the prices there are mixed with market knowledge and the actual cost of an individual diamond to set a real world transaction price for an individual stone or group of stones.
No doubt, TIffany is aware of Rapaport prices, but they also have many other cost and pricing considerations when they do set their numbers. If you had their reputation and their overhead, you'd do the pretty much the same as they have been doing for decades. It does appear that it works well for them and they have a large and dedicated following of customers.
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