‘Bird on a Rock’ at El Encanto | Photo: BFA/ Jojo Kors
Though Cartier is often regarded as one of the oldest names in high jewelry, I was surprised to learn that Tiffany & Co. actually predates the French maison by nearly a decade, having been founded in New York in 1837.
This was just one of many fun facts I learned about the house while attending its Summer Garden Series at the El Encanto on Saturday, August 15. That afternoon, Tiffany’s top clients and tastemakers gathered to celebrate its Bird on a Rock collection, inspired by the designs of the late French jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger, who spent more than two decades with the brand.
“For the high jewelry Bird on a Rock designs, we studied birds as Jean Schlumberger did — carefully observing their stances, their feathers, the structures of their wings — to create dynamic forms that seem to flutter and perch upon the wearer,” said Nathalie Verdeille, chief artistic officer of Tiffany & Co., in a press release.
At the El Encanto, a large bronze statue of a bird, paying homage to Schlumberger’s motif, sat at the center of the hotel’s famous lily pad pond. The statue has traveled across the United States this summer as part of the Garden Series tour, from Aspen to the Hamptons and finally to its last stop, Santa Barbara.
As patrons perused the collection and wandered through the garden, live music filled the otherwise quiet space. A bar serving specialty cocktails, wine, champagne and, of course, caviar, was positioned in one corner of the garden, next to an open display of the Bird on a Rock collection, which twinkled in the bright sunlight.
Among the pieces on display was the Lovebirds Pendant ($40,000), featuring two diamond-encrusted birds meeting at the necklace’s center. Next to it was the equally striking Lovebirds Ring ($40,000), along with a variety of wing-inspired designs that took the bird’s wing as their central motif.
Perhaps the star of the show was the tanzanite pendant ($135,000), an 18-karat yellow gold and platinum necklace featuring a diamond-covered bird with pink sapphires perched atop a cushion-cut tanzanite “rock.” It closely resembled the bronze statue at the garden’s center.
Throughout the afternoon, staff carefully moved some pieces from the collection to a separate room for VIP clients to try on. Of course, a few guards kept a watchful eye nearby.
It was not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon: in the presence of sparkling diamonds, caviar, and champagne.
To view Tiffany & Co.’s Bird on a Rock collection, see tiffany.com
