Last week, the New York Post ran an ad for a free diamond for the first 5000 New York Post readers from Mauboussin. Mauboussin is a French jeweler that I remember from my window shopping trips around Place Vendôme and the Champs-Élysées. Since I had never been in the store and the odds of my buying jewelry from Mauboussin was slim to none, I figured why not check it out.
Interestingly, the US Flagship store was only opened in October 2008. I am sure when they made the decision to open a store in the United States, it made sense. Considering the price point and the location, you have to wonder what the marketing strategy was when they decided to run the promotion in the Post versus the New York Times.
The store is located at 714 Madison Avenue @63rd Street in a converted townhouse, formerly the home of Shanghai Tang. Going up Madison Avenue is always an adventure. As I did when I lived in Florence, I never go shopping on Madison without makeup or thought to what I am wearing. Living downtown, no one cares what you look like but uptown is another story. Shop on Madison knowing your self-esteem is going to take a slight hit.
When I arrived at the store, there were men in black and ear sets manning the line like a club. I signed in and waited to be summoned. The store as you can imagine is beautiful, stark, imposing and very intimidating. Let's face it, without the promotion, why would I go in?
I was told to head to the third floor for my appointment. The first floor was dark and black like a club setting, luxurious but intimidating. I did not get a clear view of the second floor as I was led to the third floor by one of the sales associates. Glancing quickly, it was lighter than the first floor but still a little dark. The third floor was all white and the brightest of the three floors (my camera makes the floor looks yellow but it is bright white).
I can assume this was intentional although I am not sure why you would want to sit in the dark blackness of the first floor. Do the diamonds appear bigger?
Each floor is set up in section, so each client has privacy to look at the jewelry choices. The wing chairs were comfortable and just plain beautiful.
The sales associate was young, cute French girl whose English is far better than my French. Amazing how the French are so much nicer here than in France.
She showed me my little diamond and of, course, I kept thinking what I am going to do with this diamond with no home.
I did the unthinkable, I opted to have the diamond set in a ring. Why you ask? Because, I am planning to give it my daughter when she is older. Unless I am winning the lottery, I can not imagine buying a ring from Mauboussin for myself let alone for my daughter.
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