As more and more brands explore how they can get involved with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), fashion companies have been some of the most prominent in the space. Leading luxury brand Tiffany recently announced its own custom NFT initiative, partnering with blockchain startup Chain on what it’s calling “NFTiffs.” The company will create 250 gem-studded necklaces and is offering them exclusively to holders of CryptoPunks art. Tiffany expects to ship them to customers in 2023.

The pendants, which are designed as real-world representations of users’ avatars, are truly “luxury” in their pricing, as they’ll set consumers back 30 Ethereum (about $50K). That money will get buyers 18-karat rose or gold, along with at least 30 diamonds or other gemstones, such as sapphires, amethysts, and spinel. While expensive, the more recent CryptoPunks sales have averaged around 70 Ethereum, or around $120K, so NFTiffs are comparatively cheap.

Tiffany is the latest luxury brand to target emerging Web3 tech, following other major brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Alfa Romeo, Tag Heuer, and Prada. Leveraging NFTs to bridge the gap between digital art and real-world fashion is one of the growing use cases for big brands who wish to provide their consumers with status-boosting opportunities across the physical-digital spectrum. It also serves as a way to introduce NFTs to a portion of the audience that may not have considered them yet.

“As a CryptoPunks holder, I saw a partnership with Tiffany as a way to make NFTs accessible to new collectors as well as strengthen the existing community that has embraced the art,” Chain CEO Deepak Thapliyal commented.

According to Noah Davis, CryptoPunks’ brand lead, it makes a lot of sense for luxury companies to get in early on Web3 pursuits as we are “heading into an era where the virtual world is going to become more important and essential to our lived experience [and] owning virtual goods is going to be that much more valuable.”

The love that luxury brands have for NFTs is clearly resonating with their customer base, as Interpret’s New Media Measure® shows that 43% of luxury brand buyers in the US own or used to own either cryptocurrency or NFTs compared to 25% of the general population. That figure jumps even higher to 48% specifically for Tiffany brand buyers. Moreover, another 27% of Tiffany consumers state a desire to purchase NFTs/crypto but haven’t done so yet.