About

Tiffany Dubin is a jewelry appraiser, collection advisor, writer, and lecturer with a special focus on artist jewelry. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience across art, fashion, and jewelry, including her years as a specialist at Sotheby's, she guides collectors through buying at auction and consigning their collections for sale.

A GIA Graduate Gemologist, Tiffany provides appraisals that conform to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). She writes about artist jewelry and lectures nationally on the subject. Her talks cover the history of 20th-century artist jewelry, made by painters and sculptors who turned to jewelry to express their artistic vision, and how to appraise these pieces. She has spoken at the Norton Museum of Art, the Museum of Arts and Design, 92NY, and the American Appraiser Conference, and in October 2026 she will speak at the American Society of Appraisers International Conference in Fort Worth.

Tiffany's expertise was shaped at Sotheby's. As the house's Artist Jewelry Specialist, she conceived and led its first auction devoted to the subject, Art as Jewelry as Art. It featured jewelry by Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Lucio Fontana, and Pablo Picasso, artists whose jewelry was an extension of their sculpture, painting, and design. The sale established a new category at Sotheby's and drew attention to wearable art as an important, often overlooked part of these artists' work.

She also brought fashion into the auction house, founding Sotheby's Fashion Department. Her sales of 20th-century couture, ready-to-wear, photography, illustration, and accessories created another new collecting field, and a profitable one. Outside Sotheby's, she opened Tiffany Dubin's Lair, a shop within Henri Bendel in New York specializing in innovative home décor from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Tiffany is the co-author, with cultural historian Ann Berman, of Vintage Style: Buying and Wearing Classic Vintage Clothes (HarperCollins). She began her career as an associate curator for the U.S. State Department's Art in Embassies Program, which led her to Sotheby's. She holds a BA in International Relations from Georgetown University and a Professional Certificate in Fine and Decorative Arts from New York University.

For appraisals, collection advice, or speaking engagements, contact tiffany@tiffanydubin.com. 

Follow Tiffany on Instagram at @tiffanydubin.