Shanghai (CNN Business) Tiffany has been playing catch-up in China, and its CEO isn't shy about saying it.

LVMH LVMHF The 182-year-old New York jeweler — which was recently purchased by luxury conglomerate— entered the mainland in 2001 and started building out its retail network there about six years later, according to Alessandro Bogliolo. He said that was a "little bit late compared to most luxury brands."

"We lost probably a decade of opportunity," Bogliolo told CNN Business on Thursday.

Bogliolo called ramping up Tiffany's presence in China one of his first major decisions as chief executive. Since he took the helm in 2017, Bogliolo has opened several new stores within the mainland, commissioned new jewelry inspired by Chinese designs, set up an online shopping platform in Chinese, and ordered a massive overhaul of the company's flagship store in Shanghai, which has roughly doubled in size to become the company's biggest outlet in Asia.

Bogliolo was at that store Thursday to mark its reopening, and he spoke with CNN Business while clutching a shimmering, nine-carat diamond ring. The piece is just one of several high-end jewels — which range in price from $100,000 to tens of millions of dollars each — that Tiffany is now selling in China.

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