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New York--Sales climbed worldwide in the third quarter for Tiffany & Co., including a 15 percent increase in same-store sales in the Americas, the retailer reported Tuesday.

Worldwide net sales for the New York-based jeweler increased 21 percent to $821.8 million, exceeding the company’s expectations for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, with same-store sales up 16 percent. Net earnings rose 63 percent to $89.7 million.

Gross margin declined from 59 percent to 58 percent due to a shift in the sales mix toward higher-priced jewelry, particularly diamond jewelry. Margins also were marginally impacted by higher commodity costs, despite Tiffany raising its prices this year.

In the Americas, sales increased 17 percent to $387.7 million due to an increase in average price per unit sold, with notable increases in sales at the highest price points. Sales in the New York flagship stores were up 24 percent due to strong sales to foreign tourists, while sales in Tiffany stores throughout the rest of the Americas rose 13 percent, with sales particularly strong in the western U.S. and to Japanese tourists in Guam and Hawaii.

“A sizable portion of our total U.S. sales increase in the quarter came from sales to foreign visitors, particularly to customers from Asia and to a lesser extent from Europe, but there was also a good increase in sales to U.S. customers,” Tiffany Vice President of Investor Relations Mark Aaron said during a conference call Tuesday morning.

Combined Internet and catalog sales were up 11 percent in the quarter. The company opened three stores in the Americas during the quarter, in Richmond, Va., Las Vegas and Brasília, Brazil.

Asia-Pacific continues to be the strongest-performing region for Tiffany, with same-store sales there climbing 36 percent in the quarter. Comps in Japan and Europe rose 4 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Other sales declined 19 percent to $11.9 million due to lower wholesale sales of finished products to independent distributors in emerging markets and a modest decline in rough diamond sales.

Year-to-date, worldwide net sales are up 24 percent to $2.50 billion and same-store sales are up 18 percent. Net earnings are up 39 percent to $260.8 million.

Same-store sales in the Americas have risen 18 percent year-to-date and are up 34 percent, 3 percent and 10 percent in Asia-Pacific, Japan and Europe, respectively. Other sales have increased 1 percent to $39.4 million.

Gross margin has increased from 58.0 percent to 58.4 percent.

“Tiffany is extremely well-positioned to serve growing numbers of discerning customers around the world with extraordinary product offerings and superior shopping experiences,” Tiffany Chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski said. “We are, of course, mindful of continued short-term economic challenges and uncertainties in some markets. Worldwide sales-to-date at this relatively early stage of our November-December holiday season are tracking in-line with our current expectations despite recent sales weaknesses in Europe and in the eastern part of the U.S. We are slightly increasing our full year earnings forecast ... to reflect a portion of the better-than-expected third quarter results.”

Tiffany expects worldwide net sales for the full year ended Jan. 31, 2012, to increase by a high-teens percentage for the year, with a low-teens percentage increase in the fourth quarter. In the Americas, sales are expected to be up by a high-teens percentage for the year.

Over the past year, Tiffany has opened a net of 18 stores.

As of Oct. 31, the company operated 243 stores: 101 in the Americas, 55 in Japan, 55 in Asia-Pacific and 32 in Europe. This is up from 225 at this time last year: 93 in the Americas, 56 in Japan, 49 in Asia-Pacific and 27 in Europe.

Tiffany ranks No. 4 on National Jeweler’s 2011 list of $100 Million Supersellers.