MISSION TO ASTONISH

Tiffany Co CEO ANTHONY LEDRU takes the brand back to its roots by reaffirming its position as a high jewellery heavyweight.

-  LYNETTE KOH

In 1877, the founder of New York jeweller Tiffany & Co, Charles Lewis Tiffany, acquired an incredible 287.42-carat rough fancy yellow diamond from South Africa's Kimberley mine. It was and remains one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. Instead of retaining as much of the huge stone as possible, the company, under the expert eye of its celebrated gemologist George Kunz, cut it down by more than half to 128.54 carats. To further ensure optimal brilliance and beauty, the cushion-cut stone had 82 facets - compared to the usual 58 for a brilliant cut.

The Tiffany Diamond, which has never been for sale, has since become an important symbol for the brand. It has been worn by just four women, including film icon Audrey Hepburn, and most recently, superstar Beyoncé, for the brand's About Love campaign in 2021. It is re-set only for what the brand deems "extraordinary occasions": Its fifth and latest incarnation, which places the stone at the centre of five soaring birds, was created for the recent grand reopening of its Landmark store in New York.

It is this sense of grandiosity and wonder that Tiffany president and CEO Anthony Ledru seeks to recapture with his strategy for the company. Speaking to Prestige Singapore via video conference from Miami, Ledru, who was made chief executive of the brand following its acquisition by LVMH for US$15.8 billion (S$21.5 billion) in 2021, shares, "Exceptional stones are part of our DNA and who we are. We started a very long time ago, with the Tiffany Diamond. Few people know this, but we are one of the oldest jewellers in the world. Most of our competitors, whom we respect very much, were born after us.

"And when you think about legacy stones at Tiffany, we did not just have some of the most important precious stones. We were also explorers, introducing stones such as tanzanite, morganite and of course, kunzite, named after our then chief gemologist Kunz."