Leonard Bermudez, a prisoner in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, sought a ''quality'' ring for his fiancee, Awilda de la Cruz.
Unable to buy one, Mr. Bermudez appealed to Tiffany & Company.
Anthony De Witt Ostrom, then president of the jewelry company, sent a small gold band, in the hope of encouraging Mr. Bermudez's rehabilitation.
The couple were wed Jan. 12, 1983. Mr. Bermudez completed his Federal sentence and went to the state prison in Wallkill, N.Y., from which he writes:
''As a result of the Family Reunion Program, God has bestowed us with a beautiful blessing. As a token of our appreciation to Mr. Ostrom and Tiffany & Co., we named our baby Lori Tiffany Bermudez.''
Mother and daughter, now a little over 2 months old, live in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.
Mr. Bermudez served a term of up to seven years for robbery, possession of stolen property and automobile theft.
And he saw his baby every other weekend. He said he wrote, because ''we wanted Lori Tiffany to know in the future that she was important even at birth.''

TIFFANY & CO. Elsa Peretti Open Wave earrings

TIFFANY & CO. Return to Tiffany Oval tag key ring

TIFFANY & CO. Tiffany 1837 lock ring

Saturday, November 21, 2009