Tiffany, acquired by Louis Vuitton, unveils’the most expensive jewelry’, a legendary diamond

US jewelry company Tiffany & Company (Tiffany) purchases an 80-carat diamond and sells it next year. It is expected to be the most expensive jewelry in Tiffany’s history at tens of billions of won. Louis Vuitton Moe Hennessy (LVMH), which owns 75 luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy, seems to have chosen to strengthen its heritage as its first management strategy after the acquisition of Tiffany.

Tiffany announced on the 5th that it will recreate the legendary jewelry that was presented at the World Expo in 1939 by newly setting a large diamond purchased in Botswana, Africa. This product will be unveiled on the day the flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York is renovated and opened. Foreign media predicted that it would be asking for tens of millions of dollars (ten hundred billion won).

“The legendary necklace perfectly reflects Tiffany’s brand heritage, worthy of its founder’s reputation as a New York luxury jewelry brand and’King of Diamonds’,” said Victoria Reynolds, Tiffany’s chief gemologist.

One of the best jewelery in Tiffany’s history, the 128.54-carat Tiffany Yellow Diamond has been thoroughly kept for display. Tiffany has allowed only three women to wear it so far. Mary Whitehouse, the then-social queen in 1957, actor Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany,” and Lady Gaga in 2019. In 1995, the design was transformed into a’bird on the rock’ brooch and exhibited at the retrospective exhibition of Tiffany jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger held in Paris.

This large yellow diamond is the protagonist who has placed Tiffany in the global’diamond authority’ position. Tiffany’s brand founder Charles Lewis Tiffany purchased a 287.42 carat gemstone diamond mined in the Kimberley mine in South Africa in 1878, at a loss of more than half to maximize its beauty, and a’cushion brilliant cut’ with an extraordinary brightness of 128.43 carats. Reborn as a diamond.

The M&A between LVMH and Tiffany, which was called the’acquisition of the century’, was initially worth 16.2 billion dollars (about 18 trillion won), but suffered twists and turns along with the Corona 19 pandemic. LVMH announced the withdrawal of the contract in September last year, and the two companies held a court battle, but the acquisition price was cut by US$425 million (about 4675 billion won) to conclude the acquisition battle.

In a statement, LVMH Chairman Bernard Arno said, “We welcome Tiffany and its employees to join the LVMH Group,” and said, “Tiffany is an iconic brand in the global jewelry industry.”

LVMH started to change Tiffany management. Arno’s son, Alexandre Arno, joined Tiffany’s management team, and two executives from Louis Vuitton were selected and put into Tiffany’s. Anthony Lérdu Louis Vuitton, who has previously worked as a senior vice president of Tiffany in North America, is appointed as Tiffany’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Michael Burke participates in the management as Tiffany’s Board Chair.

LVMH has also announced that it will completely reform the Tiffany design department. Regarding this, Reuters analyzed, “It seems that they are trying to innovate their design and focus on young people and Asian customers.”

In fact, despite the Corona 19 crisis last year, Tiffany recorded a record high in sales during the year-end shopping season, with sales surged mainly in Asia such as China. According to Reuters, Tiffany’s sales from January to the end of November last year increased by 2% compared to the same period last year. Among them, sales in the Asia-Pacific region surged by 20%, and sales growth in mainland China exceeded 50%.

Reporter Bae Jeong-won [email protected]