Tiffany & Co appointment

[Stuckinthemiddle1990]

Blatant lighthearted traffic post.

DH has booked an appointment next week for me to pick out birthday present. Nothing flash! Silver range! 🤣 As it's a big birthday he wanted to make a day of it.

It's totally out of our (his) comfort zone so want to know what to expect from an appointment I don't want us (him) to make arses of ourselves (himself)! Is there such a thing as a dress code/etiquette etc?

TIA 😊

Luxury shopping is based on the old 18th/19th century boutique model where an assistant serves you, helps you browse and make your choice (often seated and enjoying some refreshment), as opposed to the post -1960s supermarket model where you browse, choose and now even ring up the purchase yourself. The former can seem intimidating but at its best it's a much more leisurely and pleasant way to shop. Part of what you are paying for is a luxury shopping experience so it's very much up to the store to put you at ease. Check out the range online first and make a note of anything you particularly want to see. Also, there are lots of luxury YouTube gurus who film their shopping expeditions so you could do a search on there for Tiffany's to get the lay of the land. Enjoy!

Honestly based on our experience in the summer don’t get your hopes up too much if you’re buying silver. We went in to buy something for our silver wedding and it was the first time in for a few years. I was very disappointed in the service compared to previous times there when it was always a lovely experience.

LVMH have focussed Tiffany on the higher end stuff and want to compete with Asprey, Van Cleef etc. The staff when we were there this time really couldn’t be arsed and they have a much more limited silver range than they used to. I tried one ring on which was too small and got told if I wanted to see a bigger range of styles they were online. I asked if they could check the size of a Tiffany ring I had on so we could see what they had in stock in my size and the sales assistant huffed and sighed and said she wasn’t sure they had a ring sizer on that floor.

We have shopped there on and off for over 20 years, mostly silver and a new wedding ring one time for DH and every time until this time we always enjoyed it but this time it was not a great experience. We tried the Covent Garden store as well while we were in London and had the same experience so it wasn’t just one assistant having an off day. It just felt very much like they don’t want the silver business in the stores any more (evidenced as well by the massive reduction in silver stock they carry, they’ve completely done away with the top floor being all silver). We ended up getting a gorgeous set of earrings and necklace from Georg Jensen instead.

Do you not have to have someone to show you stuff anyway so an appointment is always a good idea?

Right, we have re booked the appointment.

It also asked about the recipient of the gift and what we were after so atleast they will be prepared for £300 odd as opposed to £30,000 odd! 🤣

They show you items anyway, appointments are like personal shopping appts, not just showing you a few items and helping you try them on

Do not cancel just go & have fun moneys money at the end of the day they’ll be glad for a sale when I’ve been in & brought stuff they’ve always been happy & helpful ☺️

I’ve been a few times, to Bond Street with my then DP, to the Sloane Square shop, Royal Exchange shop and also the concession in Selfridges. I didn’t need an appointment at any time, wasn’t necessarily buying every time though!

They are very attentive and polite as they should be.

I’m going to be slightly snobbish and say there are nicer jewellers shops than Tiffany in my honest opinion (Boodles, Dinny Hall, independent jewellers) but if you’re sold on them then honestly try on what you want to and enjoy the experience. Once when I went I was choosing something for a colleague’s leaving gift so was dressed smartly in workwear and other times was either there after work or on a weekend so probably in jeans and as a PP said they don’t judge you (like in some other designer shops!).

Enjoy your trip there!

We went to the one in Paris to pick my engagement ring and the larger stone that I wanted had been reserved by somebody else, so they tried to get us drunk with champagne so that I would be happy with the smaller one and buy on the spot. I believe I was wearing an H&M mini dress and X was dress like a typical Aussie in a shirt and shorts. We didn’t look like we could afford the ring I was looking at, but they still served us beautifully.

Please keep your appointment, it’s a special day for you!

How bloody exciting , please update us after your visit
It sounds like it's going to be lovely

My card was declined in Paris 😆 a genuine mix up with the bank - they were still completely lovely with me and very discreet whilst it got sorted.

Have your appointment and enjoy your shopping ☺️

It's a very nice branch with someone who opens the door for you!
They will treat you the same as if you were spending 50k and don't forget, rich people often dress down in holey jeans etc, it means nothing any more 🤷‍♀️

If they sell silver, and they offer appointments for people to look at and try on what they sell, I can't understand why they wouldn't be impressed at a potential customer booking an appointment to look at their silver jewellery

Unless there is a sign or a warning that says you can only book an appt if you are spending over X then I would assume it's a service available to all customers.

OP, keep your appointment and enjoy yourself!

I’ve only ever been offered champagne once there (with ex DP) which makes me laugh if they’ve done it more times!

As @TerryIsAllGold says, from viewing their silver range even online I’ve noticed it’s definitely not as extensive as it was in the past and I also found prices had increased. I think they’re probably trying to get away from every Tom, Dick and Harry having the cheaper silver earrings and there were and probably still are, a lot of fakes around.

One of my friends had a lovely small silver hearts bracelet but when I looked for it, they didn’t do it anymore.

Exdh and I had an appointment at Tiffany’s for our wedding rings as he was determined to buy them there. We spent over £5k and the assistant was really pissy with us as shortly after we arrived a clearly very rich bloke walked in and announced to the entire shop “I need a present for a friend, someone help me” and he was whisked off into a lift by another sales assistant. As soon as our sales assistant realised we only wanted fairly plain rings she couldn’t wait to get us out of there. It was supposed to be a really exciting thing we were doing and we were made to feel like peasants.

Go somewhere else, you’ll get much more for your money and won’t be made to feel like an inconvenience.

My partner has bought me a few pieces from Tiffany. Together we selected my engagement ring at the Old Bond Street store. I was in casual wear and didn’t feel self-conscious in the slightest. We were rather spoilt and were given glasses of prosecco once my finance had made the purchase. They also offered to polish my ring prior to the wedding.
Keep the appointment, especially if your husband is treating you 😅.

He sounds lovely, what a nice thing to do for you! Hope you enjoy your day and end up with something you’ll always treasure x

We bought Tiffany diamond earrings once dressed in shorts in the USA on a walk in. They overnighted some diamonds from their New York collection for us to view. I've bought silver on a walk in. Never had an appointment .

and don't forget, rich people often dress down in holey jeans etc, it means nothing any more

Absolutely this OP!

When I feel out of place in any of the luxury/high end stores I always think back to the Pretty Woman scene when they refused to serve her. Big mistake. HUGE.

Keep the appointment and enjoy your day! Im
sure you will find something you like. Your partner sounds lovely, what a thoughtful idea x

That’s a disgusting way to treat clients and I’d actually have said something to them then and there about their treatment towards you both.

It doesn’t make a difference to them what you wear, but it may make a difference to you- if you are a Tiffany’s customer you clearly like nice things and notice them. Wear something that makes you both feel good, and go somewhere smart for a drink afterwards.

maybe things have changed, but around 10 years ago I took DD (early 20s) to the Bond St store for a 'congratulations' gift and it was a small piece of silver jewellery.

We hadn't made an appt. I had no idea people needed to!

The silver is upstairs and once we were met by the 'heavies' and explained what we wanted, we were shown upstairs.

We sat at a counter while they allowed her to try on various small items and came away very happy.

Totally low key, no issues. We wore normal clothes for shopping- can't recall what but along the lines of jeans and casual tops.

The appointments aren’t just to try items on, you can do that without an appt.

the service might be available but it’s a bit atypical to book an appt to buy a cheaper item of jewellery, they’re often for those getting engaged

@NancyJoan

I think I aspire to the nice things fits the bill, but as a general rule can't afford them myself! Previous Tiffany items have been gifts 🤣

I just have a bit of if I am going somewhere nice I like to look/feel nice and not look like a complete mess!

Oh, and we'd looked online before we went so had a rough idea of what we wanted.

You do pay for the label - she could have got something similar for far less - but it was a lovely shopping experience for her.