For the first time in its 178 years of existence, Tiffany & Co. has featured a same-sex couple in a jewelry advertisement.
The ad, specifically showcasing engagement rings, displays a reportedly real (though still magazine-ready) New York gay couple, accompanied by the text, “And will you let today be the first sentence of one long story that never, ever ends?”
Obvious mortality constraints aside, it seems appropriate that the symbol of marriage has become expensive jewelry. Marriage and jewelry have a lot in common, after all.
They’re both valuable only because we ascribe them value, and even if you’re adamantly uninterested in either, there’s probably some culturally implanted value dating back to childhood causing you to view both favorably.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The clear advantage precious metals have over marriage, however, is that they never lose their sparkle. Just kidding. Or not.
OK, let’s hear the gooey PR angle from Tiffany’s, shall we?
“Nowadays, the road to marriage is no longer linear, and true love can happen more than once with love stories coming in a variety of forms,” Linda Buckley, Tiffany & Co. vice president of North American PR, said in a statement to ELLE.com. “The Tiffany engagement ring is the first sentence of the story that a couple will write together as they create a life that is deeply intimate and exceptional, which is the message we hope to convey through this campaign.”
Still, good on Tiffany’s. We hope to see many more sappy gay advertisements from them in the future.
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jwtraveler
Tiffany’s smells money. THE END
Makes me gag.
Billy Budd
@jwtraveler: You can engrave a Cracker Jack ring at Tiffany’s for 10 bucks. Haven’t you watched “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”?
odawg
A beautiful “white” couple.
McShane
The prices for Tiffany platinum mens rings are really not that bad. Crazy boring designs. Blue Nile is a much better company. Especially the hammered wedding ring in platinum. Tiffany is more for bragging rights if you ask me.
technicolornina
Good on Tiffany, but when I meet my future wife, I want to find an artisan jeweler who will support our marriage in the same way that we support their small business. To me that’s far more important than any bragging rights that come with a Tiffany ring.
Still, can you IMAGINE the heads that will explode next Christmas, when Kay Jewelers has to play catchup to this? You can’t escape the Kay Jewelers ads from October to March.
jwtraveler
@nature boy: “who wants to spoil a romantic moment by shopping at a homophobic jeweler.”
Yes, when privileged, white, gay couples shop for a diamond produced by the exploitation and suffering of black African miners, they certainly don’t want to buy it from a homophobic jeweler.
nature boy
@jwtraveler Here is Tiffany’s statement on what they’ve done to assure ethical sourcing http://www.tiffany.com/WorldOfTiffany/TiffanyStory/Diamonds/EthicalSourcing.aspx
Do you have a gay friendly jeweler you can recommend who’s doing more than this?
wpewen
Back in the late 70’s premium liquor,travel, etc. started advertising in the Advocate. It continues and it is: They want to sell you stuff, that’s all, they don’t give a damn if you live or die. Over at LGBTQ news guys are romanticizing this. It is not like gay men and: jobs, housing, military, sports, etc. I can’t speak for women.
For those of us who have neither the means nor the desire for this kind of thing it is totally comical.
jwtraveler
@nature boy: I don’t “have a gay friendly jeweler” because I don’t have the money to spend on expensive frivolities, and if I had the money I wouldn’t waste it on such meaningless self-indulgence.
I’m concerned with LGBT rights, equality and the freedom to define and express ourselves in whatever way we see fit. I’m not concerned with the narcissistic pursuits of elitist gay white people who only seek to be included in the world of privilege of their elitist straight white counterparts. That’s for HRC and the Log Cabin Republicans.
There are no gay-friendly companies. There are some anti-gay companies, but the vast majority of companies are only money-friendly. They market to gay people (or any other demographic) because they see a profitable market to exploit. It would be very naïve to believe otherwise.
nature boy
@jwtraveler wow I’m sorry you are in such an angry and judgmental place today. I don’t have money to spend on expensive frivolities either and I don’t shop at Tiffany either. In fact I don’t wear any jewelry. However I don’t think that all gay people who wear jewelry are doing it “to be included in the world of privilege of their elitist straight white counterparts.”. I rather see it as the right to define and express their personal style in whatever way they see fit, as you so also expressed. Perhaps a ring as a symbol of vows they are making to share their life with a husband, wife, or partner. A gay couple wearing wedding rings is in fact a powerful social statement. And as a previous poster mentioned, Tiffany does offer some simple and affordable option that most people may not expect… I remember that from my Mom shopping there when I was a kid. She didn’t have a lot of money to spend, but Tiffanys still had something for her as a customer. And finally, I do beg to differ, there are definitely gay-friendly companies that have taken leadership roles in making sure that gays are not only tolerated but actively welcomed both as customers and as employees. Yes businesses’ purpose is to make a profit, but they are still run by people who may desire at the same time to express certain values in their business of fairness and justice. I definitely pay attention and give more of my business to companies that market to the gay community, over companies that still do not even offer workplace protections or benefits to gays much less spend money advertising to and directly welcoming our GLBT communities as customers.
pjm1
The article state “They’re both valuable only because we ascribe them value, . . . .”
There were many reasons for the fight for marriage and money and legal rights are/were
front and center. In fact, the Windsor case (before the U.S. Supreme Court) was all
about money — that is — spouses do not now (after Windsor) have to pay inheritance taxes (and that
can be quite a bit). Also, I was a best man in a wedding recently between two men and one
at the time was not a U.S. citizen — and now he is on his way to citizenship b/c of
marriage. How about social security benefits? A married spouse is entitled to survivor
benefits. This goes on and . . . . you get the point.
Marriage has real value (and ok, so does gold).
technicolornina
I can’t edit my original post, but wanted to add that folks getting engaged who can’t afford Tiffany and want to be sure of ethically-sourced stones should look into nontraditional rings. I’ve seen some absolutely gorgeous engagement rings featuring two colored stones (bride’s and groom’s birthstones side by side), opals, and a single colored stone that’s actually the stone of the month in which the lucky couple intend to marry. Yes, these were all for straight couples, but there’s no reason GLBT couples can’t take advantage of this too.
And finally: if you really want the traditional look but not the cost or the risk of purchasing exploitative diamonds, sit down and have a serious talk with your intended about the benefit of a custom-made pair of cubic zirconia rings. Yes, they’re “fake” stones in that they’re not naturally formed, but they have the look, and you can pay $500 rather than $5000.