At Oak Spring, a Virginia estate nestled between hedgerows and horizon, history doesn’t just sit still, it blossoms. Here, among espaliered apple trees and greenhouse finials, the American style icon Rachel Lambert ‘Bunny’ Mellon cultivated a life rooted in nature, elegance, and enduring friendships. One of the most significant of those was her creative kinship with Jean Schlumberger, the visionary jewellery designer for Tiffany & Co. whose fantastical creations shaped 20th-century jewellery design and continue to do so today.
This September, Tiffany & Co. reintroduces Bird on a Rock to the world, not as a single brooch, but as a soaring new high and fine jewellery collection. Originally designed by Schlumberger in 1965, the whimsical idea of a bird perched upon a bold gemstone has become one of Tiffany’s most emblematic motifs. But behind this iconic design is a quiet story of friendship, gardens, and shared inspiration, one that takes us straight back to the garden of Oak Spring.
A Perch Outside Her Window
During a recent visit to Bunny Mellon’s estate, I learned that she had installed a small wooden peg outside her bedroom window. Each morning, she would place a halved apple there to attract birds. Her favourite visitor? A mockingbird - cheeky, musical, unmistakable. In this small act lies a clue to the private passions that shaped her world: beauty, nature, and observation.
Those same values aligned perfectly with Schlumberger’s own. Known for his sculptural and nature-inspired designs, Schlumberger captured the movement of sea creatures, flowers, and fauna and translated them into bejewelled forms. He and Mellon were close friends; she was not only his muse but also one of his earliest and most significant patrons. In fact, it was Bunny who acquired the very first Bird on a Rock brooch: a yellow and white gold bird with diamonds, perched on a cabochon lapis lazuli. That same lapis still feels like the soul of the design - noble, tranquil, and with a sense of history beneath its deep blue surface.
Her devotion to the design went beyond collecting. Each month, when she travelled from Oak Spring to her New York City townhouse, Mellon would pin a Bird on a Rock brooch to her signature beret, a personal ritual that signalled she was entering the cosmopolitan world. It was quiet but deliberate. The brooch meant business.
Their creative relationship was fruitful beyond simple patronage. Arguably Schlumberger’s most recognizable creation, his colourful enamel bangles, were made famous by Jackie Kennedy, but thanks to Bunny. They were originally gifts from Mellon to her dear friend Jackie. A woman of discretion and style, Mellon understood the power of jewellery not just as ornament, but as a symbol. When worn by Jackie, these bangles came to symbolize strength and beauty under pressure.
Nature Reimagined, Then and Now
Now, nearly 60 years later, Tiffany & Co. is reimagining Bird on a Rock for a new generation under the creative direction of Nathalie Verdeille, Chief Artistic Officer of Jewellery and High Jewellery at the house. The collection includes suites of high jewellery pieces and, for the first time, a broader range of fine jewellery that invites a more everyday kind of wear.
Two distinct design approaches anchor the collection: figural and abstract. The high jewellery pieces lean into naturalism, channelling Schlumberger’s meticulous studies of birds - how they stand, how their wings lift in midair, the tension in a feather’s edge. The result is sculptural and alive: birds seemingly mid-flight or at the moment of landing, rendered in diamonds, platinum, and 18k gold.
Meanwhile, the fine jewellery collection distils this idea into its essence - the wing. Here, we find abstract silhouettes with hidden settings, scalloped edges, and convertible designs that marry form with function. One particularly clever pair of earrings can be worn four different ways, from dramatic drops to delicate studs.
Both expressions celebrate what Schlumberger adored: the individuality and asymmetry of nature. No two birds in this collection are alike. Each is hand-assembled and gemstone-matched to ensure its own visual harmony, just as each flower in Bunny’s gardens was chosen not for perfection, but for personality.
A Garden of Gemstones
The high jewellery suites in this collection take their palette from nature itself. One is anchored by tanzanite, a ‘legacy gemstone’ Tiffany introduced to the world in 1968. The electric blue-violet stones are paired with rubellite, aquamarine, and a radiant 9-carat Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond, a modern nod to the legendary Tiffany Diamond.
The other suite is devoted to turquoise, a stone beloved by Schlumberger for its vibrant, often unpredictable character. A standout necklace features a diamond bird clasping strands of cabochon turquoise with gold and diamond feathers cascading downward. The colour recalls Tiffany’s robin’s-egg blue boxes and, perhaps more poignantly, the skies above Oak Spring Garden.
This turquoise suite feels like a love letter not only to Schlumberger’s aesthetic, but to Mellon herself. It evokes the greenhouse she cherished, and the lead-plated copper floral finial Schlumberger designed for it in the 1960s, a piece so admired, it was recently restored by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and now resides in its gallery.
When Jewellery Tells a Story
What sets this collection apart is not only its beauty but its emotional resonance. Bird on a Rock was never just about a brooch; it was a metaphor. For Schlumberger, a bird perched on a luminous gemstone symbolised optimism and joy, a refusal to be earthbound. For Mellon, who surrounded herself with growing things and cultivated friendships with artists, designers, and political figures alike, it was a reminder of these friendships as well as the everyday magic to be found in nature.
And for Tiffany & Co., it remains a cornerstone of its visual language. Each piece in this collection, from the figural birds to the winged abstractions, honours Schlumberger’s technical mastery and sense of whimsy.
It is rare to find a collection that so seamlessly weaves together past and present, art and jewels, story and sculpture. Bird on a Rock by Tiffany achieves this, and in doing so, it extends the legacy of two remarkable individuals whose shared vision continues to take flight.