Tiffany & Co. touches down in Paris

At the launch of the brand's new Paris flagship store we spoke with Marc Jacheet, Tiffany & Co. managing director for France and Benelux, about the jeweler's new presence in Paris, its storied past, and its future.

The store space - "Parisian elegance"

Opened Tuesday with a celeb-studded party on the top of the Arc de Triomphe, the Tiffany & Co. store at 62 Avenue des Champs-Elysées is the brand's new Paris flagship.

The 976-square-meter location, set over three floors, has been totally renovated, with an interesting mix of contemporary features including light fittings by Michele Oka Doner and stunning mirrored mural by London-based Hugo Dalton. "I think what we've tried to capture is the glamor and the vibrancy and the energy of New York, with the art deco style, but which is rounded out by this touch of Parisian elegance," outlines Marc Jacheet.

Jacheet is keen to stress the artisan workmanship that went into the store design, from the 18K gold leaf which was embossed with enamel in the panelled private bridal salon, to the 1,837 pieces of glass in the central chandelier by Studio Roso (Danish design duo Sophie Nielsen and Rolf Knudsen), a nod to the brand's founding year of 1837.

All of this is at a far remove from no. 62's previous tenant, French fast food chain Quick, but Tiffany was also keen not to get carried away with luxury touches: "it's not intimidating at the same time, it's about doing things seriously without taking ourselves too seriously," explains Jacheet.

Tiffany & Paris - "a window to the world"

Jacheet is also excited by what he calls the "long love affair" between the American jeweler and the City of Light, which goes back to the first Tiffany store in the Opéra district, on Rue de la Paix. Opened in 1868 it followed the brand's bureau de répresentation back in the days when Paris, not Antwerp, was the place to buy and sell diamonds.

"This is where Tiffany acquired its worldwide legitimacy," he notes, also highlighting the international prizes awarded for the gemstones Tiffany presented at the Expositions Universelles of 1867, 1878 and 1889 (the last of which, of course, saw the construction of the Eiffel Tower).

When the French republic sold off the French crown jewels at the end of the 19th century it was Tiffany that bought up a third of the collection. And, when the Tiffany Diamond was discovered in 1878 at the Kimberly mine in South Africa, it was brought to Paris to be cut by Tiffany's gemologist George Frederick Kunz.

To celebrate the store, the brand has brought the famous 128.53 carats Tiffany Diamond (worn by Audrey Hepburn in the promotional material for the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's novella) back to Paris, where it's sitting on display in the new store.

Tiffany left France after World War Two and didn't reappear until 1999 with the reopening of the historic Rue de la Paix store. Further locations in Printemps and Galeries Lafayette department stores followed, along with a boutique in Nice.

For a while now, according to Jacheet, Tiffany had been eyeing up a spot on the Champs-Elysées, labelling the famous shopping street "a window to the world." He explains: "The Champs-Elysées is probably one of the most beautiful avenues in the world, definitely one of the most well known, and definitely the most visited. More than 100 million people walk the Champs-Elysées avenue every year."

The future of Tiffany & Co. - "timelessness is the new black"

"We are the luxury brand for happy moments," Jacheet says, citing big life events from birthdays, to younger French women coming in to pick out presents for their baccalaureat, to the famous engagement rings.

So did he come to Tiffany when he wanted to buy his own wife's engagement ring or did he go elsewhere? He's got a cast-iron excuse: family tradition. "It was a family stone handed down from my grandmother. It was an old taille ancienne ring."

If banking on enduring love (and the need for a diamond or two to prove it) is the thing that carries Tiffany into the future, what are the trends the brand will need to respond to on the way?

"Timelessness," he's quick to shoot back. "Timelessness is definitely the new black" he explains, "it's about finding the balance between preserving the traditions and the brand DNA, and presenting it in a very contemporary, modern, energetic way."

There will be no "animals, bold pieces, and vanity." However, that's not a knock at any other brands (including fellow Champs-Elysées resident Cartier) he's keen to affirm. "I don't see them as competitors, they're colleagues and confrères. There's room for everyone."

Looking to the future, Jacheet also praised the company's recent hire of Francesca Amfitheatrof as Design Director, heading all jewelry from fashion to statement. He described the Central Saint Martins and Royal College of Art trained creative as an "extremely talented woman: contemporary, energetic, cultured." "She's the one that brings the edge and the contemporaneity to the brand," he adds.