Tiffany & Co – Page 3

De Beers banks on ‘diamonds are for me’

Anglo American unit De Beers said its 2019 marketing budget will exceed last year’s figure of $170 million and will focus on the biggest market the United States, where women lavishing diamonds on themselves has boosted sales.

While U.S. demand has held firm, the diamond market has weakened elsewhere and trade tensions and protests in Hong Kong have dented sales in China, the second largest diamond market.

But luxury groups see potential for growth in jewelry demand, as shown by LVMH’s nearly $14.5 billion offer, made public on Monday, to buy Tiffany & Co.

Esther Oberbeck, group head of strategy at De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer by value, said in an interview the company was about to launch new marketing campaigns, focused on the U.S. and China.

She did not specify the budget, but said De Beers’ 2019 spend would exceed last year’s $170 million and was the highest in more than a decade.

The campaigns, which she said would concentrate on “self-purchase and the bridal market”, are based on research carried out for De Beers, published on Monday.

It found the share of U.S. women buying their own engagement ring doubled from 7% to 14% over the five-year period 2013-2017 and that women on average spent a third more than men – $4,400 compared with $3,300.

De Beers sells rough diamonds and jewelry through its Forevermark brand.

Its research anticipates the rough diamond market will recover from a period of oversupply as some mines reach their end of their lives, notably Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia.

Global consumer demand for diamonds rose by 2% in 2018 to $76 billion and, in dollar terms, China and the United States were the fastest-growing regions, both increasing by 5% year on year, it said.

Demand for diamond jewelry in the U.S. rose by 5% to $36 billion, representing just under half of total global diamond jewelry demand, underpinned by “solid macro-economic factors”, the De Beers research found.

Diamonds are still the leading choice for engagement rings, whether between same sex or heterosexual couples.

But demand for diamond jewelry as a gift to mark all kinds of special occasions, including rewards to oneself, now outweighs demand directly related to weddings, De Beers said.

Source: Reuters

Hailey and Justin Bieber flaunt $750k worth of jewels

Justin 25 and Hailey Bieber 22 have unveiled the extremely blingy additions to their second wedding, including her dazzling wedding band and his grills.

After tying the knot in South Carolina’s Montage Palmetto Bluffs on Monday, the duo and their superstar guests have been intricately documenting the big day on social media, with their latest snaps showing their blinged up look.

In striking black and white shots taken in the photobooth, the couple showed off what amounted to an estimated $750,000.

The not so newlyweds who first tied the knot over a year ago, kicked off the night by exchanging vows in a chapel in front of a legion of celebrity guests.

Hailey perfectly matched her $500,000 engagement ring with a diamond wave shape band, believed to have come from Tiffany & Co.

The Vogue model was also seen wearing a large pair of platinum set studs from the designer jewelry brand that were over five carats and worth over $123,000.

Justin meanwhile opted for a more simple look than his blinged up bride as he donned a band of a thicker design on his wedding ring finger.

But that wasn’t the only piece of jewelry for the Sorry pop star, rocking his Israeli diamond $25,000 lavender grillz.

Justin showcased his new accessory on social media last week and it is estimated to be worth $25000.

The singer also accessorised with his new $100,000 Audemars Piguet watch that he splurged on just days before the big day.

Source: dailymail

Tiffany & Co. launches men’s line, hoping diamonds are a dude’s best friend

Tiffany & Co. hasn’t had any trouble getting men to come shop for the ladies in their lives.

Now the jeweler behind those iconic blue boxes wants them to stay and peruse … for themselves.

Tiffany is rolling out its first comprehensive jewelry line for men, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to attract younger shoppers and reverse declining sales. Come October, the collection will include nearly 100 designs, some of which will fetch prices as high as $15,000. Tiffany also plans to add home furnishings and accessories, such as ice tongs and beer mugs, with male customers in mind.

But retail experts say it could be a tough sell. The glitz and glamour of Tiffany has long been tied to feminine jewelry (along with Audrey Hepburn’s soft smile and bejeweled neck).

Rolling out masculine designs are one thing. But getting male customers in the door and with themselves in mind is quite another.

“[Men] still see Tiffany as a female-based proposition, just because of its heritage and even things like the color of the boxes,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData Retail. “It could be quite difficult for them to really persuade male customers that they have something to offer and that is relevant to them.”

Reed Krakoff, Tiffany’s chief artistic director and who developed the collection, told the Associated Press that the new line will get its own floor space in Tiffany’s 300 stores, rather than being sold alongside other merchandise.

“Men all over the world are wearing jewelry and more accessories as part of a wardrobe,” Krakoff told the AP. “You started to see it on the runways, in social media.”

Krakoff said that men’s merchandise hasn’t historically been a large focus for Tiffany. But the company saw an opening given that half of the company’s global customers are men, most of whom come into Tiffany to buy women’s jewelry.

“We have a captive audience,” Krakoff said.

Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School, gave credit to Tiffany for trying to become “more relevant” and less reliant on its aging “legacy customer.” That is key when younger shoppers “aren’t responding the way their parents did in terms of their affection for fine jewelry.”

But Cohen was skeptical that there was much Tiffany could mine in the men’s jewelry business. Gem stones and diamonds may glisten on the runway. But they do not carry the same currency for the average Joe.

“I just don’t see it as a meaningful business,” Cohen said. “To think this is going to be some sort of windfall — it’s just not going to happen.”

It is not just a lack of male foot traffic that has unsettled Tiffany. In November, company shares plummeted after Tiffany reported weaker-than-expected sales. Chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo said at the time that tourists, and specifically Chinese tourists, were traveling less, dampening sales in places like New York and Hong Kong. (Bogliolo said business in China was still strong, reaching double-digit sales growth throughout 2018.)

Though the fine jewelry market for men climbed to $5.8 billion worldwide in 2018, according to the market research firm Euromonitor International, it still lags far behind the $33.2 billion women’s market.

Saunders pointed to the athleisure brand Lululemon as a company that successfully pivoted from a mainly female audience and got more men in to shop. But Lululemon’s challenge was, in some ways, simpler to overcome, Saunders said. Lululemon does not carry the same “heritage” as Tiffany and could more easily persuade men to buy comfortable, practically gender-neutral workout clothes — not expensive bling.

Still, Tiffany has at least one major advantage: Even if men are not shopping for themselves right now, they are already inside and at the counter. Alexis DeSalva, a senior analyst of retail and e-commerce at Mintel, said Tiffany does not have to go after an entire new bucket of customers and woo them inside.

Rather, Tiffany can focus its pitch on existing male customers. Better yet, it can spread the word to its female fans who will then talk up the new line to male friends and family.

“Part of [Tiffany’s] legacy is on the service they offer,” DeSalva said. “They need to hone in on that and make sure they’re communicating [to men], ‘Hey, we have something for you too.’”

Source: Rachel Siegel washingtonpost

Sales slide at Tiffany & Co as tourists tighten their purses

Tiffany Profits Quadrupled In Fourth Quarter

Sales performed below expectations for Tiffany & Co during the first quarter of 2019.

For the three months ended April 30, worldwide net sales fell by 3% to $1bn compared to the previous year, and comparable sales declined by 5%. On a constant exchange rate basis, net sales were equal to the prior year and comparable sales declined 2%.

Net earnings came in at $125 million, 12% lower than the prior year’s $142 million.

These results reflect mixed performance across regions and product categories.

During the quarter engagement rings sales decline by 6%, while jewellery collections saw a 1% increase.

Totally net sales declined in the major markets, with Europe and the Americas both reported a 4% decline, with the latter being impacted by lower spending from foreign tourists. In Asia Pacific total net sales fell by 1%, something the brand attributes to the effect of foreign currency translation.

As a result of Q1, Tiffany has trimmed its earnings outlook, now expecting earnings in the 2019 financial year to increase by a low to mid single digit percentage, compared with its previous forecast for a mid single digit percentage increase.

Tiffany’s chief executive officer, Alessandro Bogliolo, reports: “Our first quarter results reflect significant foreign exchange headwinds and dramatically lower worldwide spending attributed to foreign tourists. That said, we were pleased that, at the core of our business, global sales attributed to local customers, led by sales in China, grew over last year’s very strong sales results.

“We believe this growth in sales to local customers reflects progress in executing our strategic priorities, including innovations across products, communications and the customer experience, and that Tiffany is positioned for improving trends in the second half of 2019.”

Tiffany opened two company operated stores in the first quarter, closed two stores and relocated two.

At April 30, 2019, the Company operated 321 stores (124 in the Americas, 89 in Asia-Pacific, 56 in Japan, 47 in Europe and five in the UAE), versus 314 stores a year ago (123 in the Americas, 87 in Asia Pacific, 54 in Japan, 46 in Europe and four in the UAE).

Source: professionaljeweller

Tiffany Is Training Africans to Cut Diamonds Sourced From Region

Tiffany & Co. has been expanding its workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of almost one billion people where the jewelry giant doesn’t have a single store.

More than a quarter of the New York based company’s 1,500 global diamond cutters and polishers are now based in Africa, Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview in Cape Town.

Tiffany has factories in Botswana and Mauritius with staff subject to “intensive training” over two years, he said, making it the only western luxury brand that doesn’t outsource production of its African stones.

Botswana is the world’s largest diamond producer after Russia, and is the only African country where Tiffany both buys and prepares its stones.

While it also sources diamonds from mines in South Africa, Namibia and Sierra Leone, it won’t do business in Zimbabwe and Angola because of the human-rights situation in those countries, Bogliolo said.

“If you buy from a world class brand, it’s because you trust that this brand has done all that is humanly possible to guarantee that the product is not only crafted to the highest standard, but also ethical and traceable in its manufacturing,’’ the CEO said.
Ethical Jewelry

The move to hire and train African polishers and cutters comes as Tiffany strives to be completely transparent about how its diamonds progress from deep underground to the engagement rings of wives to be. That’s in line with a wider trend in consumer goods industries to tap into demand for products that younger shoppers see as ethical.

This year, the company started to share the origin of its diamonds with customers, an initiative Bogliolo believes will push the entire industry to follow suit.

Tiffany has been trying to recoup sales that have been hit by a slowdown of Chinese tourist spending in the U.S., including an expansion of the business in Beijing and Shanghai.

While Bogliolo said the jeweler has a lot of customers in Africa, they’re forced to leave the continent to make purchases as the retailer’s only outlets there are in Egypt.

However, the CEO said South Africa is an “interesting market” where the company might eventually open at least one store.

“There’s no doubt that we will have a more robust presence on this continent,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finding the right location and the critical mass in order to have a sustainable business.”

Tiffany shares have gained 32 percent this year, valuing the company at $12.9 billion.

Source: bloomberg.com

Yellow diamond yielding mine back on the market

The Liquidated Ellendale mine in Western Australia, known for its fancy yellow diamonds is back on the market.

The Ellendale mine claimed to have yielded around half of the world’s supply of rare yellow diamonds during peak production.

Ellendale mine is located 120km east of Derby was also the main supplier of fancy yellow diamonds for luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co.