Tiffany & Co. on Dec. 26 reported that preliminary worldwide net sales rose 1% to 3% year over year during the holidays.

The growth was driven by the jeweler's overall performance in mainland China, where it posted a strong double-digit sales increase despite declines in Hong Kong.

"We completed the enlargement of our flagship store in Shanghai, now the largest Tiffany store in Asia, in a prominent street-facing location within the Hong Kong Plaza mall," CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in a statement. "At this location, we also just celebrated the opening of the first Tiffany Blue Box Café on the Chinese Mainland."

For the interim period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, Tiffany's preliminary net sales rose 2% to 4% in the Americas and 3% to 5% in Europe. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific sales increased by 5% to 7%, but Japanese sales dropped 9% to 11%.

On a comparable basis, sales grew 2% to 4% in the Americas, 4% to 6% in Europe and 7% to 9% in the Asia-Pacific market. Sales in Japan fell 11% to 13% year over year.

Tiffany operated 327 locations globally as of Dec. 24, versus 321 stores in the year-ago period.