The Tiffany Blue Box

The distinctive color known as Tiffany Blue was selected by founder Charles Lewis Tiffany for the cover of Blue Book, Tiffany’s annual collection of exquisitely handcrafted jewels, which was first published in 1845.

Also referred to as robin’s-egg blue or forget-me-not blue, this color may have been chosen because of the popularity of the turquoise gemstone in 19th-century jewelry. Turquoise was also a favorite of Victorian brides who often gave their attendants a dove-shaped brooch of turquoise as a wedding day memento.

After the company introduced the Tiffany® Setting, its original engagement ring, in 1886, its blue box packaging became as famous as the ring itself. People would come to the store asking to buy the boxes, but Charles Lewis Tiffany refused to sell them for any price. He famously told the New York Sun in 1906 that he would happily give you one for free, as long as you selected a design to put in it. 

Tiffany Blue was trademarked by Tiffany in 1998 and was standardized by the Pantone® Matching System to ensure that no matter where you were in the world, no matter the medium the color was reproduced in—whether it was on a shopping bag or in advertising—it would be instantly recognizable and always the same. The custom color that PMS created for Tiffany is called “1837 Blue,” named for the year Tiffany & Co. was founded.

The Tiffany Blue Box has become an icon of luxury and exclusivity the world over, but beyond being beautiful, it’s also green. Tiffany works hard to ensure that all Blue Boxes and bags are made with paper from sustainable sources and recycled materials and seeks to advance the use of sustainably sourced paper and wood-fiber materials.