Choosing the right color can also be extremely important when it comes to marketing a company, as colors are often associated with different emotions, values or symbols. These three designer brands successfully used color to market their items through their iconic boxes.
Tiffany Blue
In 1845, company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany chose the shade of blue now known as Tiffany Blue for the cover of the first catalog in which Tiffany presented its annual jewelry collection. The robin egg blue struck a cord with the public, perhaps since turquoise was incredibly popular in the 19th century, as it was believed to have talismanic qualities.
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Over time, the hue of the Blue Book was used in other areas at Tiffany, most notably for the packaging, leading to the birth of the Tiffany Blue Box. The Tiffany Blue Box soon became the most coveted box in the world, and in 1906 the New York Sun reported: "Tiffany has an object in store which you cannot buy, no matter how much money you bid, only he can give it to you. And this is one of his boxes.”
Cartier Red
Red is the color of love and the color of Cartier's jewelry boxes, marking the company as the jeweler of love. Reminiscent of 18th-century splendor, the octagonal jewelry cases made of Moroccan leather with gold garlands have become synonymous around the world with giving a loved one something special.
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The company, which was founded in Paris in 1847, initially focused on cases in black, olive green and pink tones, until the elegant shade of deep red finally prevailed in the 1930s. The interior is either white or black velvet, depending on what better showcases the piece of jewelry inside.
Hermès Orange
The signature shade of luxury leather goods manufacturer Hermès came about in a time that had absolutely nothing to do with glamour: World War II. In 1942 there was a shortage of materials everywhere in Paris, and Hermès also felt compelled to replace the cream color of its boxes, which had been the norm until then. What was still available was an orange shade and Hermès grabbed it, little knowing that this orange would eventually become synonymous with the brand.
Today, the boxes at Hermès Orange come in 188 different sizes, so that customers can safely bring their newly acquired treasures home in them, from silk scarves to the legendary Birkin bag. Only their furniture has to do without the signature orange, as Hermès admits on its website.
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The boxes from Tiffany, Cartier, and Hermès also play an important role on the auction market. It can make a big difference if an object is offered with or without the original box, especially when it comes to wristwatches. But the boxes are also becoming increasingly popular as collector's items on their own and are sometimes auctioned by themselves, an alternative for luxury lovers on a budget.