Luxury jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. Plans to sell custom diamond- and gemstone-encrusted pendants with a hefty $50,000 price and a caveat—only CryptoPunk NFT holders can get one.
Tiffany’s unveiled its “NFTiff” collection on Sunday, exclusively for members of one of the earliest and most successful NFT communities that sparked the digital collectibles boom.
“We’re taking NFTs to the next level,” the jeweler announced on Twitter. “Exclusive to CryptoPunks holders, NFTiff transforms your NFT into a bespoke pendant handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. Artisans. You’ll also receive an additional NFT version of the pendant.”
As with other NFT collections, scarcity is a key part of Tiffany’s launch. On Aug. 5, it will release a limited supply of 250 digital passes—which CryptoPunk holders can redeem for a custom pendant and NFT artwork inspired by the jewelry design—on a newly created website. The passes cost 30 Ethereum (ETH) each, or just over $50,000 at today’s prices. Customers can purchase up to three passes, according to Tiffany’s FAQ for the launch.
If all 250 pieces sell out, Tiffany’s stands to gain 7,500 ETH, currently worth over $12.5 million, and could earn even more from resale royalties.
The announcement about the passes comes after many NFT collections took a massive loss in value following May’s crypto market crash. CryptoPunks, considered a leader in the market, was no exception, and its floor price sank over 50% that month, The Block reported. The values of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are also down big after hitting highs late last year.
Tiffany’s artisan designers will customize each pendant sold using a combination of at least 30 diamonds and gemstones, the company said. The design is meant to resemble each CryptoPunk owner’s character from the famed avatar collection.
Anyone can purchase an NFTiff pass to hold as a collectible, as long as they use a wallet where they own the private keys. But only CryptoPunk holders can redeem the physical necklace through minting—the process of turning a digital file into a crypto collectible or digital asset recorded on the blockchain. Buyers have until Aug. 12 to redeem their NFTs, and the physical pendants won’t be ready until early next year—according to Chain, the crypto startup Tiffany’s has partnered with for the project.
The collection may seem like a strange move from one of the most prominent names in the luxury goods sector since its founding in the 1800s. Most associate the storied jeweler with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, its iconic blue jewelry boxes, and its largely out-of-reach price tag.
But a debut NFT collection might be Tiffany’s latest move in its years-long rebranding effort to appeal to younger shoppers. Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany’s executive vice president of product and communications, previewed the launch in April.
“Shall we custom make @TiffanyAndCo Cryptopunk pendants available for punk owners to order for 1 week? Can’t do 10,000 though …” Arnault asked in a Twitter poll. The idea was widely popular—over 80% of the 4,400 respondents answered in favor.
Chain confirmed in a press release that Arnault’s own CryptoPunk-inspired pendant, which he tweeted images of days before the Twitter poll, acted as the inspiration for NFTiff.
The general public has responded to the upcoming launch with a mixture of excitement, interest, and skepticism over the extremely high price. While some touted the collection as a “huge win for NFTs,” others accused Tiffany’s of a “cash grab.” With the NFTiff collection restricted to CryptoPunk holders, any buyers would already have at least $125,000 to spare—the floor price for the lowest-valued tokens in the collection.
Tiffany’s did not respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.
“NFTiff” may be Tiffany’s first NFT collection, but the jeweler has made previous leaps into Web3.
On April Fool’s Day, Tiffany’s staged the launch of a new cryptocurrency, posting images of a gold “TiffCoin” on its social media. Though that was later revealed to be a prank, the jeweler eventually minted 499 physical 18-karat-gold TiffCoins, priced at $9,999 and made available during a 24-hour window on Tiffany’s website.
The brand’s profile picture on Twitter is an Okapi NFT it purchased in March for a reported $380,000.