Tiffany & Co.: The Day Jewellery Becomes Fragrance

“I think of perfume as a magical messenger between the unconscious and the conscious, and between the past and the present. It is not a messenger of nostalgia, but of a time capsule. It has the power to situate us between yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

— Daniela Andrier, perfumer, at the 2017 Tiffany fragrance launch event

Essential Information
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
What Matters to the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
1. Chapter One: A “150th-Anniversary Scent” Created by the Chanel Team (1987–2003)
2. Chapter Two: A Major Relaunch After Thirty Years (2017 Onwards)
By the Way…

Essential Information

Brand founded: 1837
Founder: Charles Lewis Tiffany
Entry into fragrance: 1987 (the brand’s 150th anniversary)
Fragrance licensee: Coty
Official website: tiffany.co.jp

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

A Story That Began at Number 259, New York

On September 18, 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany, just 25 years old, opened a small “stationery and fancy goods store” with his friend John B. Young at 259 Broadway in New York. The initial capital was $1,000 borrowed from his father. J. L. Ellis later joined them, and the shop became known as Tiffany, Young and Ellis.

From soon after its opening, the shop became a haven for high society, attracting New York socialites, business magnates and even foreign heads of state. Its practice of openly displaying prices and refusing discounts, together with its strict cash-only policy, was unusual at the time, and also testified to the brand’s absolute confidence in its quality.

The Transformation into a Jewellery House

In 1853, Charles took control of the business, renamed it Tiffany & Co., and made a strategic shift towards specializing in jewellery. The decision would eventually bear fruit. In 1862, during the Civil War, the company even manufactured swords and surgical instruments for the Union Army, and at the 1867 Paris Exposition it received a bronze medal for silverwork, according to the company’s official history. The Tiffany name was spreading beyond America to the world.

In 1878, the company purchased a rare rough yellow diamond that would later become a symbol of the brand. After cutting, it weighed 128.54 carats. In 1887, Tiffany acquired almost a third of the French Crown Jewels, and Charles came to be known as “The King of Diamonds.” As that title suggests, Tiffany secured its position not merely as a retailer, but as a luxury design house born in America.

Adversity and Renewal

In 1978, cosmetics giant Avon Products acquired the company. A period of uncertainty for the brand’s image followed, but in 1984 an investor group led by William R. Chaney bought it back and renewed its management. After Chaney became chief executive, Tiffany went public in May 1987. That autumn, as it marked its 150th anniversary, the house embarked on a new venture beyond the world of jewellery.

The Memory Left by Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Having acquired jewels from the French crown, Tiffany was decisively elevated to the heart of popular culture by the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Its flagship at 727 Fifth Avenue, where it has stood since 1940, is the object of the longing gaze of Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn. Ever since, it has been an emblematic part of the New York cityscape.

What Matters to the Brand

Tiffany Blue and Iris: Two Central Themes

Two motifs are indispensable to any discussion of Tiffany fragrance. One is Tiffany Blue®, the colour that symbolizes the brand. The other is the iris flower.

The connection between Tiffany and iris predates its perfumes by many years. Iris motifs recur in the house’s earliest design sketches, and an iris brooch set with demantoid garnets and Montana sapphires won the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris Exposition. This reverence for iris would later make it the “soul ingredient” of the fragrances.

A Bottle That Holds a Diamond

The bottle of the 2017 signature fragrance is a vessel that mirrors Tiffany jewellery itself. The faceting at its base echoes the cut of the 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond, while the geometric lines of its shoulders were inspired by the Lucida-cut engagement ring. A Tiffany Blue accent with a “T” pattern encircles the collar, and the flacon is presented in the house’s signature Blue Box.

Iris Butter: A Distinctive Philosophy of Materials

The iris at the heart of the current signature fragrance is not simply an “iris fragrance ingredient.” It is iris butter, made from rhizomes harvested in France each July and August and extracted using a proprietary steam-distillation process (hydrodistillation) developed exclusively for Tiffany fragrance. The pure, bright and richly lasting note this method yields forms the most distinctive core of Tiffany’s scent.

The Fragrance Lineup

Chapter One: A “150th-Anniversary Scent” Created by the Chanel Team (1987–2003)

Tiffany first entered the world of perfume in 1987 to commemorate its 150th anniversary. Its first fragrance, Tiffany, was developed in collaboration with Chanel’s perfumers and created by François Demachy, who was then working at Chanel. Born in Cannes in 1949, Demachy grew up in Grasse, the capital of fragrance materials. He would later create numerous notable perfumes as Dior’s exclusive perfumer within the LVMH group, but at the time he worked alongside Jacques Polge at Chanel.

Tiffany was launched in September 1987, initially exclusively at the Tiffany flagship, priced at $220 for 30 mL. The following year, it expanded to luxury department stores. A substantial floral bouquet, it moves from top notes of blackcurrant and mandarin to a luxuriant floral heart of Taif rose, ylang-ylang, African orange blossom, iris, jasmine, violet and lily of the valley, then to a warm base of sandalwood, vetiver, amber and vanilla. The popular fashion model Kim Alexis appeared as ambassador at the launch event. In 1988, it won in the women’s luxury fragrance category at the FiFi Awards, often called the “Oscars” of the fragrance industry.

Tiffany for Men followed in 1989. Its perfumer was Jacques Polge, also of Chanel, who created a woody aromatic fragrance that moves from a bright opening of lavender, lemon and cardamom to a creamy heart of sandalwood and spicy nutmeg. Pierre Dinand designed the bottles for both fragrances. The legendary Paris-born flacon designer is a giant in his field, with more than 1,000 perfume bottles to his name, including Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium and Calvin Klein’s Obsession.

Further fragrances by the Chanel creative team followed: Trueste in 1995, Tiffany for Men Sport in 1998, and Sheer Tiffany, composed by Jacques Polge, in 1999. Pure Tiffany appeared in 2003 and, in 2004, shared the Fragrance Foundation’s Women’s Prestige Fragrance of the Year award with Burberry Brit.

Chapter Two: A Major Relaunch After Thirty Years (2017 Onwards)

After Pure Tiffany, the house released no new fragrance for approximately fourteen years. Then, in 2017, the jeweller made a major return to fragrance, thirty years after its initial entry. Its new partner was Coty, with which it had signed a licensing agreement in 2016, and the perfumery lineage shifted from Chanel to Givaudan.

Daniela Andrier was chosen for the task. Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Andrier studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris before entering perfumery as an intern at Chanel in 1988. The following year, she began formal training at the Roure perfumery school, now part of Givaudan. She became known for fragrances that combine elegance and intellect, including Prada Infusion d’Iris and Maison Martin Margiela Untitled, and received the Fragrance Foundation USA’s Lifetime Achievement Perfumer Award in 2025.

Her motto is “Far from any cliché.” Andrier said of the 2017 signature fragrance:

“The process of creating a perfume is mysterious, rather like humming a song without fearing anyone’s judgement. What emerges is a crystallization of the essence of your vital energy: your love of life.”

She also expressed her deep fascination with scent and iris:

“I am fascinated by iris. And iris has a long association with Tiffany.”

Tiffany Eau de Parfum (2017) is a pared-back, modern fragrance composed of vibrant top notes of vert de mandarine (unripe tangerine), a poised heart of French iris butter and a sensual base of patchouli and musk. Guided by the concept of “bare skin, a scent, a piece of jewellery and one iconic colour,” the campaign was photographed by the celebrated Steven Meisel and featured models including Vittoria Ceretti and Julia Nobis. Its soundtrack used singer St. Vincent’s cover of “All You Need Is Love.”

Tiffany Eau de Parfum Intense (2018) takes the original iris signature in a richer, deeper direction, with pink pepper added to the opening, an iris-filled heart and a sweet base of amber and benzoin. This, too, was composed by Daniela Andrier. In 2019, it won Best Feminine Olfactory Creation from Italy’s Accademia del Profumo.

Tiffany & Love For Her / For Him (2019) was the brand’s first paired fragrance collection. For Her was created by Honorine Blanc and Marie Salamagne of Firmenich, and For Him by Sophie Labbé and Nicolas Beaulieu of IFF. The shared ingredient connecting them is Blue Sequoia, an olfactory tribute to Tiffany Blue. Reed Krakoff designed their cylindrical blue-glass bottles, with the ingredient name engraved on a silver plate.

Wild Iris Parfum (2020, limited edition) can be regarded as a culmination of Daniela Andrier’s iris perfumes. It was housed in a hand-blown flacon by Seguso Vetri d’Arte, the prestigious glass workshop on the Venetian island of Murano. Created using the Sommerso technique, in which a Tiffany Blue interior is encased in a colourless exterior, the bottle is also an artwork, from a glassmaker whose creations are held in museums around the world.

Tiffany Rose Gold Eau de Parfum (2021) began a new series composed by Robertet perfumer Jérôme Epinette. It combines a sparkling blackcurrant opening, a heart of blue rose accord that brings together the scents of Japanese rose and violet, and a warm base of ambrette seed. Its striking blush-pink flacon was inspired by Tiffany’s rose gold jewellery.

Tiffany Sheer Eau de Toilette (in the current lineup), also by Daniela Andrier, moves from a bright opening of blackcurrant, vert de mandarine and ylang-ylang to rose and then an iris base. It is positioned as a “lighter interpretation” of the signature fragrance.

By the Way…

The secret of the Blue Box
The Tiffany Blue colour is named Pantone No. 1837, a number taken from the brand’s founding year. The Blue Box, first introduced in 1853, became so popular that, according to one anecdote, customers came to the store asking to buy the box alone rather than its contents.

The unexpected connection between Chanel and Tiffany
The Tiffany fragrances released between 1987 and 2003, including Tiffany, Tiffany for Men and Sheer Tiffany, were all created by the Chanel perfumery team, including François Demachy and Jacques Polge. Polge, in particular, was the Chanel chief perfumer behind creations such as N°5 Eau Première, Chance and Bleu de Chanel. This unexpected partnership between a jeweller and Chanel underpinned the quality of the early Tiffany fragrances.

The iris brooch and the Grand Prix
The iris brooch that won the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris Exposition combined demantoid garnets with Montana sapphires. Demantoid garnet is a rare variety of andradite, a gemstone with strong dispersion, or the separation of light into colours. Its brilliance made it the ideal material for expressing the iris’s vivid petals. More than a century later, the glory of this brooch is inscribed in the DNA of the fragrances.

References