Tiffany and Co.’s News That It Will Produce Customized CryptoPunks Pendants Sets Off 2,200 Percent Leap in the NFT’s Trading Volume

Some people sport their NFTs on their Twitter profile, others wear them around their neck in diamond-encrusted rose gold—or at least they will, later this month. Jeweler Tiffany & Co. announced on Sunday that the company would be collaborating on a collection of NFTs and corresponding CryptoPunk-ified jewelry, which will go up for sale on August 5 exclusively on the brand’s new NFT site, the cutely named NFTiff.

Potential buyers have to already own a CryptoPunk in order to play ball. If you choose to purchase, the NFTiff functions as a pass that allows you to order up not only a customized Tiffany pendant and pixel-inspired necklace, but also an additional digital rendering of the pendant as a NFT, powered by Chain. The whole kit and kaboodle will cost 30 ETH, which converts to about $50,0000. That may seem like a pretty penny, but it’s a relative steal: the floor price for a Punk is currently about 74.5 ETH, or roughly $125,000.

Of course, in classic crypto fashion, hype for the collaboration has already caused the trading volume for CryptoPunks to increase by 2,200% in just three days since its announcement, for a total of more than $2.3 million in sales, CoinDesk reports.

The NFTiffs are limited to an edition of 250, and owners of any Punk will be allowed to buy up to three necklaces. For the pendants themselves, TIffany’s designers will faithfully replicate each visage from the same library of 87 characteristics and 159 hues employed by the Punks’ originator, Larva Labs, color-matched in enamel and a minimum of 30 gemstones.

The venture came about after Tiffany & Co.’s executive vice president of product and communication, Alexandre Arnault, posted the a photo of a custom-designed interpretation of his CryptoPunk #3167, attracting the notice of Chain’s CEO, Deepak Thapliyal, who then reached out to discuss partnering.

The campaign reflects a new foray into guerrilla online marketing for the brand, too. Arnault announced the project on his personal Twitter account, polling his followers if they would like to see this happen and, when the vote came back as a resounding “Yes,” replying “LFG” (the acronym reportedly means “let’s form group” in crypto-jargon, but there are alternative interpretations).

While the jewelry collaboration may feel like a surprising intertwining of a legacy brand with extremely new media, buyers can rest assured that each personalized pendant will be delivered in the timeless Tiffany blue box.