Part of the thrill of being in New York is visiting places I’ve seen or heard about in books and movies. One of the most famous, glamorous New York institutions, in my mind, is Tiffany’s. Perhaps I saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s at an impressionable age, but I suspect the allure of Tiffany’s was caused by the even earlier impressions of the magic of jewels from 1001 Tales of Arabian Nights, which I read as a very young girl.
Yes, we have a Tiffany’s in Vancouver (3 in fact), but I’ve never gone there. It seems like these are sham Tiffanies. The real Tiffany’s is in New York, on Fifth Ave., at the corner of 57th St.
So when I made my first trip to midtown, to enjoy the nap I had booked at YeloSpa, I was delighted to see that Tiffany’s was right across the street. I had a few minutes before my nap, so I popped into Tiffany’s to marvel at the beauty.
I stepped into the vast, high-ceilinged room and saw what seemed like dozens of display case islands, many of them populated by Tiffany tour guides. The glamorous woman guide on the closest island asked if there was anything she could help me find.
I have been on the lookout for a pair of ruby earrings to match the ruby necklace my mom 
brought back for me as a gift from Australia, so on a whim I said, “Can you point me in the direction of the rubies?”
Imagine my surprise when she told me they don’t have any rubies. What!!? Tiffany’s doesn’t have rubies? She went on to explain, in a friendly way, that the only “Tiffany quality” rubies in the world come from Burma. She said that there is a trade embargo in place against Burma because of their human rights violations. Who knew? Well, I didn’t until that moment. I also didn’t know that Tiffany’s was such an ethical company, and I felt very moved to be informed of this. This discovery was one of the magical moments of my trip to New York.
I spent the next few minutes wandering around the store and feasting on the beauty shining forth from every island. My attention was drawn to a fabulous, sparkling diamond bracelet, costing a mere $20,000. Yes, I could afford it if I really wanted to spend money on something like that. But as I thought of a better use I had recently put $20K to, I once again felt a warm feeling in my heart.
So that’s my Tiffany’s story. I must say that the woman I spoke to was much friendlier than the sales staff at Giorgio’s on Rodeo Dive, a place I stumbled into and out of with my sister Kim in the 1990s. Well done, New York!
As a P.S., as I mentioned earlier, I have been researching New York in preparation for my next trip by re-watching Sex and the City. Tiffany’s has been an important place for purchasing Charlotte’s wedding rings on that show! Here is a picture I took of Charlotte and her first husband, Trey, on the street in front of Tiffany’s.