Tiffany gets stamp of approval on “new metal”

2.1 k views | Posted August 28, 2012 |

Tiffany & Co. caused controversy earlier this year by marketing its trademarked ‘Rubedo’ alloy as a new metal, but an American advertising board has ruled claims as not misleading.

Long-famed for its blue box and other marketing master strokes, luxury jewellery brand Tiffany & Co. has used its 175th anniversary this year as the impetus to create a new branding legacy, with the creation and promotion of its own unique metal alloy. ‘Rubedo™’, a blend of gold, copper and silver, was launched in February and marketed as a “new jeweller’s metal”.

Rubedo was first used in a new Tiffany collection in February this year.

A media release at the time of the launch read, “Rubedo metal is the first such creation in Tiffany’s history and takes its place among the most beautiful metals in the world. In the medieval philosophy of alchemy, Rubedo was the title of the very highest achievement, when matter and spirit fused to create something of rare beauty. This triumph is perfectly expressed in Tiffany’s new Rubedo metal.”

However Tiffany’s claim about a new metal was criticised by a number of experts.

The major criticisms of the marketing push by Tiffany were that it was suggesting it had invented an entirely new metal, rather than just a new alloy.

Rudolph Buchheit, chairman, Ohio State University materials science engineering, told the New York Times that Tiffany’s use of the word ‘metal’ could be misleading.

“A new metal would be equivalent to creating a new element in the periodic table,” he said. “It’s what high energy physicists do. It’s not the thing you do in a jewellery foundry.”

Rubedo pendant

Goldsmith Christina Malle also told the Times that Tiffany wasn’t providing information about the composition of the alloy or gold carat counts, further increasing uncertainty about the quality of the jewellery.

“In this case there’s no information that indicates any degree of consistency,” she said. “Is it nine per cent or one per cent gold? How do we know? It’s confusing to the consumer.”

However the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) recently gave Tiffany a “stamp” of approval.

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the CBBB an advertising industry self-regulatory body, wrote in a paper that the Tiffany Rubedo marketing campaign is credible.

NAD ruled that, despite the use of phrases like “a new metal”, consumers would believe that Rubedo is a new alloy, and not a new pure metal or addition to the periodic table.

NAD did, however, take exception to Tiffany’s advertised claim that Rubedo “marries the richness of gold, the brilliance of silver and the warmth of copper”, believing that the line suggested these elements were used from highest to lowest quantity in the order listed. Rubedo is primarily copper. Tiffany had already amended this line across its press materials before NAD’s recommendation.