Charles Lewis Tiffany

Charles Lewis Tiffany (February 15, 1812 – February 18, 1902) was an American businessman and jeweler who founded New York City's Tiffany & Co. in 1837. Known for his jewelry expertise, Tiffany created the country's first retail catalog and introduced the English standard of sterling silver in imported jewelry in 1851.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biography

Charles Lewis Tiffany (left) in his store, about 1887

Tiffany was born on February 15, 1812, in Killingly, Connecticut, the son of Chloe (Draper) and Comfort Tiffany.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Tiffany was educated at a district school and an academy in Plainfield, Connecticut. Starting at the age of fifteen, he helped manage a small general store founded by his father, the owner of a cotton-manufacturing company. He later worked at the office of his father's mill. The Tiffany family descended from the immigrant Squire Humphrey Tiffany (England, 1630 – Swansea, Massachusetts, 1685),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Heydt, G. F. (1893). Charles L. Tiffany and the House of Tiffany & Co. Tiffany & Company.</ref> who had lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony since 1660.<ref name=roth/>

In 1837, with $1,000 borrowed from his father, Tiffany and a school friend, John B. Young, set up a small stationery and gift shop in New York City. Their first day in business brought only $4.98 in sales, but two years later they were still in business, selling glassware, porcelain, cutlery, clocks, and jewelry.<ref name=roth/> The store expanded in 1841, when the owners changed its name to Tiffany, Young, and Ellis. The store established a reputation for selling only the finest goods and specialized in Bohemian glass and porcelain. It also began manufacturing its own jewelry. Tiffany pioneered several retail innovations, including the introduction of the first retail catalog in the United States in 1845, known as the Blue Book, which is considered the first direct-mail catalog to bring fine jewelry to American doorsteps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1848, when political unrest in Europe depreciated the market in precious stones, Tiffany invested heavily in diamonds, which were sold at a great profit a few years later.<ref name="EB1911">{{#if: |

   |{{#ifeq: Tiffany, Charles Lewis |
                |{{#ifeq: |
                             |
                             |
                           }}
                |
               }}
  }}{{#ifeq:  |
   |{{#ifeq: y |
                                    |This article
                                    |One or more of the preceding sentences
                                   }} incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
  }}{{#invoke:template wrapper|{{#if:|list|wrap}}|_template=cite EB1911
   |_exclude=footnote, inline, noicon, no-icon, noprescript, no-prescript, _debug

   | noicon=1
  }}{{#ifeq:  ||}}</ref>

In 1851, Tiffany played a key role in adopting the English standard of sterling silver in the United States, making Tiffany & Co. the first American firm to use the British silver standard of 92.5% purity. This standard later became the benchmark for the U.S. Sterling Standard.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1853, the company was reorganized under the name Tiffany and Company,<ref name="EB1911" /> and opened branches in Paris (1850) and London (1868). The store also relocated uptown to a Fifth Avenue site in that decade.<ref name="roth" /> At the beginning of the American Civil War, foreseeing that the jewelry business would suffer, Tiffany turned most of his capital to the manufacture of swords, medals, and other war materials.<ref name="EB1911" />

Charles Lewis Tiffany is credited with introducing the six-prong "Tiffany Setting" engagement ring in 1886, designed to enhance the visibility and brilliance of the diamond.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also introduced the "Tiffany Blue Box," which became widely recognized as a symbol of the company.<ref name=":0" /> He served a diverse clientele that included U.S. presidents such as Abraham Lincoln as well as prominent American families.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tiffany was publicly embarrassed in an 1872 diamond and gemstone hoax perpetrated by Philip Arnold that cost investors more than half a million dollars.Template:Citation needed

As Broadway shows became more popular, Tiffany collaborated with Thomas Edison on footlights and other devices for theater lighting.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The firm acquired and sold some of the French Crown Jewels in 1887, solidifying its reputation as merchants of high quality.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gravestone in Green-Wood Cemetery

Charles Tiffany died at his home in Manhattan on February 18, 1902, at age ninety.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time of his death, his company was capitalized at more than $2 million and was acknowledged as the most prominent jewelry company in North America.<ref name=roth/>

Personal life

Home, Madison Avenue & 72nd Street

On November 30, 1841,<ref name=NYTribuneMarried>Template:Cite web</ref> Tiffany married John B. Young's sister, Harriet Olivia Avery Young (1817–1897), with whom he had six children: Charles Lewis Tiffany Jr. (1842–1847), Annie Olivia Tiffany Mitchell (1844–1937; grandmother of Hiram Bingham IV through her daughter Alfreda Mitchell; she was the first wife of Hiram Bingham III, one of the first explorers to Machu Picchu, Peru),<ref name=BinghamIVNYTobit>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Tiffany>Template:Cite web</ref> Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), Louise Harriet Tiffany (1856–1937), Henry Charles Tiffany (1858–1859), and Burnett Young Tiffany (1860–1945).Template:Citation needed

Tiffany was a patron of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one of the founders of the New York Society of Fine Arts.<ref name=roth>Roth, David M., editor, and Grenier, Judith Arnold, associate editor, Connecticut History and Culture: An Historical overview and Resource Guide for Teachers, published by the Connecticut Historical Commission, 1985, page 155</ref>

Honors

Tiffany was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1878.<ref name="EB1911"/>

External links

• Template:Fashiondesigner
• Charles Lewis Tiffany Biography