Retail Confessions: Tiffany

"When you're working on the engagement floor, if it's a couple coming in, you can tell by the body language of the guy whether or not they're actually looking."

In the Back Row chat: Paid subscribers are sounding off on Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest Dior couture collection. Do you like her approach or do you share the frustrations of many online commenters who wonder why Dior is still going in this direction? Join the discussion here.

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In this issue of Back Row:

• A former Tiffany client advisor talks about what it’s really like working in the New York flagship.

• The body language that gives away men who aren’t serious about proposing.

• What the security cameras can actually see. (Spoiler: A LOT.)

• Who really got access to purchasing (arguably regrettable) collaboration lines by Nike and Fendi.

If one store truly runs the gamut from aspirational luxury to the highest end of the category, it’s Tiffany. Shoppers head to the New York flagship for everything from $150 heart charms to fine jewelry that costs in excess of $500,000. LVMH acquired the brand in 2021, leading to a host of changes, including upping the frequency of price increases from yearly to quarterly, according to a luxury retail professional who recently worked in the store. Ahead, the former employee talks at length about what it’s really like selling jewelry in one of the world’s most iconic stores.

If you’re a luxury retail professional who wants to chat for this column, please reply to this email or send me a DM.

What changed at Tiffany after it was acquired by LVMH?

Tiffany used to be closed selling, which means you stay on one floor the entire time. So if you're hired for love and engagement, you'll only ever sell love and engagement. They got rid of that, and everyone gets scheduled on different floors, which was nice. I liked selling a $23,000 ring instead of being stuck on the silver floor and selling the $250 Return to Tiffany stuff for the rest of my time there.

A Return to Tiffany heart.

Also, you get to touch the most beautiful pieces. I got to touch a $1.2 million necklace. If you go to a store like Gucci or Louis Vuitton, they'll have client advisors (CAs) who can do $4 or $5 million [in sales per year]. But the top seller for Tiffany in the entire company did around $24 million one year recently. But still, people can do $8 million, $10 million a year.

Do shoppers comment on the price increases?

Some clients remember what the prices used to be. Enamel bracelets from Tiffany’s Jean Schlumberger collection that ten years ago were $25,000 are now $50,000. No one buys them. They're beautiful, the craftsmanship is incredible, but it's hard to sell a $50,000 bracelet that doesn't have any diamonds on it.

What was the clientele like?

A lot of tourists because it was the flagship. A lot of people who were just looking. But then I had a guy come in who was on his way to dinner with his fiancée for her birthday, and he bought an $8,300 set of earrings and a $7,300 ring.

Could you distinguish between the lookie-loos and the people who would actually buy stuff?

It really depends on the floor. If you were scheduled on the main floor, you're going to get a ton of people who were just looking. On the second floor, which was the silver jewelry, you had a lot more people who were actually buying because it was the entry-level price point. Honestly, anytime someone came in and you heard a British accent, you knew they were going to the silver floor.

What was selling engagement rings like?

People think customers walk in and will sit down and buy an engagement ring. Maybe one in twenty people will do that. For the most part, it can be a six-month process.

A lot of people make appointments online for their initial consultations. It could be a couple who's seriously looking. It could be a girl who's single, but she and her friends want to pick out engagement rings for whenever they get engaged.

People who are shopping for an engagement ring are shopping around, they're not just going to Tiffany. When you're working on the engagement floor, if it's a couple coming in, you can tell by the body language of the guy whether or not they're actually looking or if it's just the girl who wants to see the pretty things.

Can you describe that kind of body language?

The guys are looking down. They have their hands in their pockets, and they're walking behind their girlfriend. The girl is excited — she's looking at everything, pointing.

So if you don’t think you’re going to make a sale to someone, what do you do?

If they make an appointment, you have to help them. It's really about getting them in and out as fast as possible, which can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half. If it's a walk-in and they're just looking around and you know that they're not engaged, the CAs would just completely ignore them.

How much did people spend?

You could have someone who spends a few hundred dollars in their entire lifetime. You could have someone who spends $30,000. You could have someone who spends millions and millions of dollars a year. The top client in the world does not look like she has money, but she has 20-carat diamond rings for each finger.

What kind of special shopping experience do high rollers get?