Tiffany & Co.’s New High Jewelry Collection Is Ocean-Inspired

For her first Tiffany & Co. high jewelry collection, newly appointed chief artistic officer Nathalie Verdeille dove deep—in the world’s vibrant oceans, that is.

Taking inspiration from famed Tiffany & Co. designer Jean Schlumberger’s iconic ocean-themed jewels, the designer conceptualized a small series of largely blue-and-white jewels for the house’s 2023 Blue Book (high jewelry) collection.

Tiffany welcomed the press, important clients, and its in-house jewelry experts to preview the collection, called Out of the Blue, at its newly opened NYC flagship, which it’s calling the Landmark (see photos of the new store here).

During a walk-through on the 8th floor of the striking new glass-encased addition to the store, designed by OMA New York, a representative explained that the collection contained seven themes: Shell, Coral, Jellyfish, Pisces, Starfish, Sea Star, and Star Urchin. There also, the collection’s vintage inspiration was laid bare—alongside many of the pieces were original Schlumberger works that  guided Verdeille’s vision.

The Jellyfish series, for one, was inspired by Schlumberger’s life. The design recalls an incident in which Bunny Mellon—the Listerine heiress, expert gardener, philanthropist, and avid jewelry collector—was stung by a jellyfish while she and Schlumberger were on a boating trip. At the center of that new collection is a large jellyfish pendant made with tanzanite, moonstones, sapphires, and diamonds, and featuring articulated wavy tentacles (see it at top). Another cuff in the group, made with the same stones, recalls an ocean wave (shown below).

In the Pisces collection, a fish brooch made from un-enhanced Umba sapphires and diamonds felt so lifelike it appeared to be mid-swim (fun fact: Tiffany & Co. no longer uses enhanced stones). While a watch, part of a soft introduction of Schlumberger timepieces, displayed mini versions of the fish on its diamond-pave face.

Other stunners include a calcedony and tanzanite necklace made to mimic coral; a starfish entangled in rocks made from opals, aquamarines, tourmalines, and beryls with diamond accents; and a transformable conch shell motif pendant hiding a detachable 24-carat black opal that can be worn as a brooch.

With this high jewelry drop, Verdeille—who jumped from Cartier to the top job at Tiffany & Co.—has also also expanded the brand’s mega-popular Bird On a Rock design for a capsule collection that imagines the resting bird in modes of flight, applied to a full suite of jewels.

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