Why Tiffany & Co. Created its First Men's Collection

Tiffany & Co. is launching its first comprehensive jewelry collection for men in October as it seeks to diversify its traditional customer base.

The line is part of Tiffany’s strategy to attract younger shoppers and pump up sales, which have been dampened by a decline in spending by tourists from China and elsewhere.

Previously, Tiffany has sold money clips, cuff links, rings, and other traditional accessories for men. Now it’s seeking to increase and put a more modern spin on their men’s fashion statements.

The new men’s collection includes nearly 100 designs ranging in price from about $200 to $15,000 for jewelry. It will also begin selling home furnishings and accessories like cocktail shakers, ice tongs, and beer mugs, with men in mind.

The new line of goods will get its own floor space in Tiffany’s 300 stores, rather than being sold side-by-side with other items, said Reed Krakoff, the company’s chief artistic director, who developed the collection.

High-end jewelry is popping up on men’s fashion runways at Gucci and other big luxury brands, said Robert Burke, an independent fashion consultant. He also pointed to the influential Dover Street Market stores in London, Tokyo and New York, which are highlighting men’s jewelry. Saks Fifth Avenue’s new York flagship this fall is also opening a jewelry area called The Vault that will showcase high-end men’s watches.

Global sales of men’s fine jewelry reached $5.8 billion last year, up 23% from 2013, according to Euromonitor International, a market research company. That’s still dwarfed by women’s fine jewelry, which reached $33.2 billion in sales, up 14% from in 2013, according to Euromonitor.

“Men all over the world are wearing jewelry and more accessories as part of a wardrobe,” said Krakoff in an interview with The Associated Press. “You started to see it on the runways, in social media.”

Krakoff said that the men’s business hasn’t been a big focus at Tiffany, but there’s a big opportunity given that half of the company’s global customers are men. The vast majority of them buy women’s jewelry, he says.

“We have a captive audience,” he said.