Engagement Rings

Tiffany dominates the high-end engagement ring business. The vast majority of engagement rings that are sold are not from Tiffany, of course; but until recently, it has been the only major high-end jewelry company that has been in the engagement ring market with both feet. More than that, the designs for the engagement rings that it produces dominate the consciousness of consumers. You can get a ring like that pictured to the left anywhere, but that is and will always be a Tiffany setting, invented and popularized by Tiffany. One reason that Tiffany has owned the high end of the engagement ring market is that they haven't faced much competition. European jewelry companies like Cartier previously weren't interested in competing in the space. That is changing, as an article from the August 3 Wall Street Journal argues ("European Jewelers Engage in Global Battle for Brides" by Christina Passariello, p. B1):

Bulgari and other European brads first build up their business in Japan, which has a strong engagement-ring tradition. Avid consumers of fashion, young Japanese consumers are highly brand-conscious. Ten years ago, Bulgari designed its Corona engagement-ring series with a four-prong setting and whick band, specifically for the Japanese market. About the same time, Carier launched an ad campaign featuring solitaires in Japanese fashion magazines, to help associate its brand with engagement rings.

But the jewelers discovered that Japanese men weren't big spenders for their betrothed; for a Tiffany ring, last year Japanese couples spent an average of $1,600, about a third of what Americans budget.

So, three years ago, Cartier, whose engagement rings start at $4,650, set out to woo American couples. It was also a way to reach out to a new generation -- a diamond solitaire is often a customer's first jewelry buy.

The article also mentions the advent of new De Beers stores selling diamond engagement rings and other diamond jewelry. These are a joint venture between De Beers, the diamond mining and distribution monopoly, and LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate; and the Houston Galleria will be the site of one of the six De Beers stores opening this year. And apparently, the diamond engagement ring contagion is invading Europe, too: where previously Europeans preferred stones other than diamonds for engagement rings, when they purchased the rings at all, diamond solitaires are growing in popularity there. Van Cleef & Arpels has even opened a boutique in their Paris store for bridal jewelry, including diamond engagement rings.

I have no particular comment to offer other than to express my surprise that it's taken these European brands so long to jump on the bandwagon. It's big business, and leaving the luxury end of the field to Tiffany because their competitors are too lazy or snobbish to understand the American consumer isn't smart.