Dive Brief:
- Cartier agreed last month to end a lawsuit against Tiffany & Co. that had accused the brand of poaching Cartier’s employees to glean trade secrets and other confidential information.
- Lawyers representing the two luxury jewelry brands agreed to permanently discontinue the legal action on Feb. 17, according to court documents filed with New York Supreme Court’s commercial division. The Fashion Law first reported the news.
- Cartier’s lawsuit, which was filed last year, accused two of its own employees of stealing confidential information about Cartier’s clients and its High Jewelry collection, which has pieces priced between $50,000 and $10 million, and handing it over to Tiffany executives once they began working for the rival luxury brand.
Dive Insight:
The legal battle between Cartier and Tiffany — respectively owned by two of the world’s largest luxury companies, Richemont and LVMH — highlighted the growing competition between the high-end jewelry brands.
LVMH completed its acquisition of Tiffany in early 2021, about a year before the lawsuit was filed. Since then, Tiffany has undergone a transformation, including launching a campaign this year featuring K-pop star Rosé, collaborating with streetwear brand Supreme and musician Pharrell, and snagging Cartier’s creative director for jewelry shortly after the acquisition.
Louis Vuitton, which is also owned by LVMH, also announced last month that Pharrell will be its new men’s creative director.
The moves came after a decade where Tiffany appeared to “be losing its way a little bit,” Paul Zimnisky, a diamond market researcher, said in an email.
“After the acquisition, they are certainly in the conversation again,” Zimnisky said. “Every campaign and collaboration is not going to be a hit, but people are talking about Tiffany again, there has definitely been a resurgence there.”
The lawsuit had accused Tiffany of making desperate moves to find its footing, such as luring Cartier’s employees into roles they were underqualified for in order to learn confidential information.
The case originally centered on Megan Marino, who had worked as an assistant jewelry merchandising manager at Cartier. However, in late 2021, Tiffany gave Marino a formal job offer, with a sign-on bonus and a 30% pay increase.
Shortly before Marino left Cartier, she sent documents to her personal email account containing detailed stock lists, pricing information, marketing and communications materials and planning information about the brand’s High Jewelry line and other products, according to the complaint. She then handed some of that information over to Tiffany executives, it alleged.
In April 2022, just a few months after the original lawsuit was filed, Cartier amended the complaint to make similar accusations against Jaron Green, who left the brand to work in a boutique management role for Tiffany.
Lawyers for Tiffany fired back against the lawsuit in May 2022, accusing Cartier of filing the lawsuit to drum up bad publicity for the brand. It also argued that the information in question was not protected under New York law.
It’s unclear why the two brands ended the case.
Joshua Mahoney, a lawyer representing Tiffany, said Monday that the matter has been “successfully resolved” but would not comment further. A lawyer representing Cartier did not respond to a request as of Monday.
The lawsuit’s end comes as rumors swirl that LVMH is considering acquiring Cartier’s owner.
But some are skeptical.
“I am sure LVMH would love to own Cartier,” Zimnisky said. “But LVMH management has made it clear that they are still busy digesting the Tiffany acquisition.”