 charles lewis tiffany (february 15, 1812 â february 18, 1902) founded tiffany & co. in new york city in 1837. was a american leader in the american jewelry trade in the nineteenth century, he was known for his jewelry expertise, created the country's first retail catalog, and, in 1851, he introduced the english standard of sterling silver. ==life and career== born in killingly, connecticut on february 15, 1812, tiffany was educated in a district school and in an academy in plainfield, connecticut. starting at the age of 15, he helped manage a small general store started by his father, the owner of a cotton-manufacturing company. charles tiffany later worked at the office of his father's mill. the tiffany family descended from the immigrant humphrey tiffany (1630-1685),http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tiffanyplayground/history who had lived in the massachusetts bay colony in 1660. thumb|left|275px|charles lewis tiffany (left) in his store, about 1887 in 1837, with $1,000 borrowed from his father, tiffany and a school friend, joh
1812_births 1902_deaths 19th-century_American_businesspeople American_jewellers American_people_of_English_descent Burials_at_Green-Wood_Cemetery Chevaliers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur People_from_Killingly,_Connecticut Purveyors_to_the_Imperial_and_Royal_Court