My daughters and I stopped in the Tiffany & Co. store at the Oriental Plaza shopping center in Beijing yesterday.
Before you dare think I am paid too much, know that this is totally out-of-the-ordinary for me. With one glance at tattered me, clerks head to any other customer – any at all.
But here’s what was interesting: The place was packed. And the clients were young and buying enthusiastically. Walk in Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels or Harry Winston in New York City, and you should be prepared to hand out the Lipitor. In Beijing, the customers look like they are internet entrepreneurs in their 20s or the very young girlfriends of factory owners.
The twenty-something woman at the counter next to me had an emerald ring on that was a head-turner. Simply huge. I’ve visited emerald mines in Colombia, one of the world’s few sources of emeralds, and know that emeralds that big or beautiful are rare.
So for all the talk about China as the cradle of counterfeit, the emporium of the ersatz, the foundry of the faux, take note. Chinese with new money want the real thing. They don’t want bogus. This is a really positive sign. In five years, the discussions about piracy in China will be very different. As standards of living improve, and as Chinese companies develop their own labels and brands, the Chinese will become better at self-policing.
They are following the same path as other East Asians. Check out this story that I wrote in July in Tokyo about super-luxury brands. As you’ll see Asians are driving the world luxury market.
We did end up buying something small (okay, I admit, large for my paltry budget), and I noted with interest in the accompanying catalogue where Tiffany is located around the world. Big cities like New York, London, Paris, Milan and Berlin have a store or two. But Taiwan has five Tiffany stores, Tokyo has half a dozen, and so does Hong Kong. South Korea has six, I believe, and China already has two apiece in Beijing and Shanghai.
One visit to the store on a weekend explains why.
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