"I would tell you that they trophy itself is priceless," O'Rourke said. "Whatever monetary value is assigned to the trophy doesn't accurately present the work the athletes have put into it."
The NFL is a customer and does pay for the trophy. (Read More: The NFL's 10 Best Cheerleading Squads 2013)
Sources tell CNBC that the Tiffany trophy business, which includes everything from Major League Baseball to PGA golf, is modestly profitable but probably with smaller margins that the rest of its jewelry business.
The NFL trophy is made in a workshop nestled into a distribution center in Parsippany, New Jersey.
"It's like the turn of the century with some of the machines and equipment used," O'Rourke noted.
As you might imagine, the size of the silver sheets is much larger than the average piece used for Tiffany jewelry. Actually, the only place the company has been able to procure sheets of high-grade silver big enough for the Vince Lombardi Trophy is in Italy.