Tiffany & Co. : Myth or Truth?

[About2ask]

Maybe someone else has heard this, that Tiffany has first choice in diamonds. All diamonds found are shown to Tiffany first, and then distributed to the others if they get rejected. Is this true/false? My girlfriend is set on this information and I have to find out. I have done a lot of research and have found no information on this.

 

[Dee*Jay]

LOL, this sounds like total bunk to me!

We''ve got some cutters on this board; maybe they''ll weigh in and tell us whethey they troop all their stones off to T&CO before offering them to others.

 

[AprilBaby]

Sounds like baloney but anyone else?

 

[radiantquest]

sounds like tiff&co bs to me. now i am not claiming to know too much, but i would think that if anyone would have that priority it would be debeers or something

 

[honey22]

Crapola! You can get better cut stones from PS vendors. Check our Whiteflash''s range of ACAs or Good Old Golds H&A stones. You pay for the little blue box, not the diamonds!

 

[strmrdr]

sorta in one case with rough but its overall false.....
They have an interest in a diamond mine and they get first pick of the rough at that mine but there are dozens of other mines that they don't have any power over.
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/news/2004/100704story1.html

When it comes to polished diamonds it is totally false.

 

[denverappraiser]

Myth.

Diamond miners are a self-interested bunch who want to sell their stones for as much as they can get and they look long and hard to find good customers. Cutters, who are mostly the ones who are buying from the miners and their sales agents, are the same way. They want to sell to customers who will pay the most and pay the fastest. In both cases it’s a wickedly competitive business where getting a few percentage points extra out of the deal is an enormous advantage. Fancy that. To the extent that they have interests in mines or cutters they may be able to exert some pressure to get them to give a bias towards their own retail operations as a buyer but even that sort of influence needs to be done with great care or you just drive your own mine or cutting house out of business.

This is not a criticism, it’s the way the capitalist world works and it’s exactly as it should be. Tiffany is welcome to shop in either marketplace if they like but money talks. Others walk. They are no more in control than DeBeers or anyone else.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[misstsips]

Actually Ive been told they do in fact get first choice as well (this message was given from T&CO in Australia). First choice as a rough diamond.
I guess its in their best intrest to share this type of information and thats why the message comes out loud & clear.

 

[neatfreak]

Mostly a MYTH. As Karl said it''s true about the rough from one mine, but that is it.

You can get far superior diamonds for less from other vendors.

 

[junior35]

There is part truth in Tiffany''s statement,at least as far in as their operations in Canada are concerned. Through their daughter company Laurelton, Tiffany receives an allocation of rough diamonds from the active diamond mines in NWT, Canada. It does not however receive any preferential treatment ,only perhaps in the sense that the rough offered is of a better purity,but nothing is free and certainly Tiffany pays top dollar for it.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 11/22/2008 6:39:45 PM
Author:About2ask
Maybe someone else has heard this, that Tiffany has first choice in diamonds. All diamonds found are shown to Tiffany first, and then distributed to the others if they get rejected. Is this true/false? My girlfriend is set on this information and I have to find out. I have done a lot of research and have found no information on this.

That is hilarious

But wow - what a brand if they can create that perception.
I have seen nice and not so nicely cut diaonds in Tiffany stores

 

[bgray]

and becasue they are a PUBLIC company they have to be very cautious about who they buy from. they have garbage for colored stones for the last few years because they cant buy from certain countries and entities

 

[:)]

haha in the words of Arjunajane earlier today...
pffft!

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

Date: 11/22/2008 7:09:39 PM
Author: misstsips
Actually Ive been told they do in fact get first choice as well (this message was given from T&CO in Australia). First choice as a rough diamond.
I guess its in their best intrest to share this type of information and thats why the message comes out loud & clear.

Doesn''t that just sound like Tiffany? I can just hear one of their salespeople saying this with a sniff of a nose in the air.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 11/23/2008 12:57:24 AM
Author: NeverEndingUpgrade

Date: 11/22/2008 7:09:39 PM

Author: misstsips

Actually Ive been told they do in fact get first choice as well (this message was given from T&CO in Australia). First choice as a rough diamond.

I guess its in their best intrest to share this type of information and thats why the message comes out loud & clear.

Doesn''t that just sound like Tiffany? I can just hear one of their salespeople saying this with a sniff of a nose in the air.

I am sure I heard/read this somewhere as well ages ago but I dismissed it

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 11/23/2008 2:02:59 AM
Author: Deelight

Date: 11/23/2008 12:57:24 AM
Author: NeverEndingUpgrade

Date: 11/22/2008 7:09:39 PM

Author: misstsips

Actually Ive been told they do in fact get first choice as well (this message was given from T&CO in Australia). First choice as a rough diamond.

I guess its in their best intrest to share this type of information and thats why the message comes out loud & clear.

Doesn''t that just sound like Tiffany? I can just hear one of their salespeople saying this with a sniff of a nose in the air.

I am sure I heard/read this somewhere as well ages ago but I dismissed it

One of my Aussie staff was in USA and visited a Tiffany store (well before she worked in the trade. She showed interst in some diamonds and was ushered into a private viewing room. They turned the lights out and showed her a diamond that had very strong strong fluorescence and why you would never ever want one. During the presentation she noticed one of her stones in a 3 diamond engagement ring (from her deceased and much loved husband) went balistic. The salesperson went "oh no, oh ah, oh, that is terrible!" (In fact she loves that stone in daylight, most of the 3.)

Sniffy toffee nosed sales people are a blight on respectable brands. I guess the courts of King''s, Queen''s and emporers have had that as a cross to bare forever....................

 

[cup_of_t]

Gosh, you lot don''t like Tiffany very much, do you?!

The salespeople aren''t all that bad, I promise!

This whole thing about getting the first choice is certainly something I''ve never heard before - but it is true with regards to Laurelton (which the company owns) which then sells off many of the diamonds not considered a high enough standard for the company to use themselves. I''ve never been told (or asked) if this is for rough or cut/polished diamonds.

Its certainly not part of our training - and as for the salesperson who was rude about that lady''s ring, if that had happened with one of us, we would have received a stern talking to from the manager (if not something more serious)- you can''t go around being rude about customers'' jewellery!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 11/23/2008 3:52:55 AM
Author: cup_of_t
Gosh, you lot don''t like Tiffany very much, do you?!

The salespeople aren''t all that bad, I promise!

This whole thing about getting the first choice is certainly something I''ve never heard before - but it is true with regards to Laurelton (which the company owns) which then sells off many of the diamonds not considered a high enough standard for the company to use themselves. I''ve never been told (or asked) if this is for rough or cut/polished diamonds.

Its certainly not part of our training - and as for the salesperson who was rude about that lady''s ring, if that had happened with one of us, we would have received a stern talking to from the manager (if not something more serious)- you can''t go around being rude about customers'' jewellery!

I agree - but this did really happen, and when a brand is positioned as Tiffany is - there is a responsability for all staff to behave well.
For all of us in the industry I would prefer that Tiffany lived up to the Myths that the brand has set or had set for it.

 

[cup_of_t]

I agree about living up to the standards - although sometimes customers come in and complain :

"This silver has tarnished, look, its gone black!"
"How long have you had it? Have you polished it at all?"
"I''ve had it a year and never polished it once, I shouldn''t have to polish it, its Tiffany silver!"

ahem!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 11/23/2008 5:10:38 AM
Author: cup_of_t
I agree about living up to the standards - although sometimes customers come in and complain :

''This silver has tarnished, look, its gone black!''
''How long have you had it? Have you polished it at all?''
''I''ve had it a year and never polished it once, I shouldn''t have to polish it, its Tiffany silver!''

ahem!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 11/22/2008 9:52:06 PM
Author:
haha in the words of Arjunajane earlier today...
pffft!

ha ha !

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/23/2008 3:52:55 AM
Author: cup_of_t
Gosh, you lot don''t like Tiffany very much, do you?!


The salespeople aren''t all that bad, I promise!

I''ve had some great ones, unfortunately the majority of them seem to think that dissing other brand''s jewelry is the way to go...

And it''s not just Tiffany''s it happens at other high end jewelers too. Just go on being kind and you''ll be the one getting the sales!

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 11/22/2008 7:47:41 PM
Author: junior35
There is part truth in Tiffany''s statement,at least as far in as their operations in Canada are concerned. Through their daughter company Laurelton, Tiffany receives an allocation of rough diamonds from the active diamond mines in NWT, Canada. It does not however receive any preferential treatment ,only perhaps in the sense that the rough offered is of a better purity,but nothing is free and certainly Tiffany pays top dollar for it.

I would suppose that what they receive from the mines, in which they have an ownership, (not Ekati or Diavik) is run-of-mine. That is an industry-term that indicates the whole spectrum of a mine''s production, from top-quality down to industrial quality.

Of this rough, they clearly pick what best suits their production-needs.

Live long,

 

[cestmoi]

I was at Tiffany''s and this salesperson gave me a little green booklet titled "A Tiffany Diamond Ring - The Gemological Standards for Superlative Brilliance"... in it, on page 36 for example, it mentions that "Frequently Tiffany rejects stones and returns them to the market place"... I guess this makes it sound like they get first crack and the salesperson thought that this was what was happening?

 

[diagem]

http://www.tiffany.com/sustainability/mining_diamonds.aspx

 

[October2008bride]

Date: 11/22/2008 6:55:53 PM
Author: strmrdr
sorta in one case with rough but its overall false.....
They have an interest in a diamond mine and they get first pick of the rough at that mine but there are dozens of other mines that they don''t have any power over.
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/news/2004/100704story1.html

When it comes to polished diamonds it is totally false.

Yeah - and that mine hasn''t produced anything as far as I understand and also filed for bankruptcy protection...

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/23/2008 1:26:58 PM
Author: cestmoi
I was at Tiffany''s and this salesperson gave me a little green booklet titled ''A Tiffany Diamond Ring - The Gemological Standards for Superlative Brilliance''... in it, on page 36 for example, it mentions that ''Frequently Tiffany rejects stones and returns them to the market place''... I guess this makes it sound like they get first crack and the salesperson thought that this was what was happening?

Very possible. They know how to market their product that is for sure.

 

[Moh 10]

Who gives a hoot if Toofunny&Co DOES get first choice in rough?

A GIA F VS1 is a GIA F VS1.
Period!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/23/2008 5:44:48 PM
Author: Moh 10
Who gives a hoot if Toofunny&Co DOES get first choice in rough?


A GIA F VS1 is a GIA F VS1.

Period!

Because the OP''s girlfriend believes that everything else on the marketplace has been "rejected" by Tiffany''s as not being good enough. Thus, she thinks Tiffany diamonds are better than others. It''s this misconception that the OP is trying to clear up.

 

[diagem]

Date: 11/23/2008 5:44:48 PM
Author: Moh 10
Who gives a hoot if Toofunny&Co DOES get first choice in rough?

A GIA F VS1 is a GIA F VS1.
Period!

What about a GIA F-VS1 vs. Tiffany (non GIA) F-VS1??