Tiffany & Co. Hosts High Jewellery Showcase in Koh Samui

As one of the 20th century’s most gifted artists, legendary jewellery designer Jean Schlumberger’s creations for Tiffany & Co. – a partnership that started in 1956 – continue to mesmerise jewellery lovers. Six decades later, as a recent high jewellery showcase in Koh Samui showed, his fantastical creations, inspired by nature, remain as popular as ever.

The enduring legacy of Jean Schlumberger’s avian mascot creation is getting a new life with a spectacular new Bird on a Pearl capsule collection – made from extremely rare natural saltwater pearls – which was one of the highlights of a high jewellery showcase in Koh Samui in March, along with other Schlumberger-inspired creations. The first time the famous bird landed on a pearl was in 2023 when Creative Director Nathalie Verdeille imagined it atop a different kind of perch – moving away from the coloured gemstones traditionally used. The event in Koh Samui was also the first time these pearl creations were seen in Thailand.

Natural pearls are becoming increasingly rare, due in part to the pollution of the world’s oceans. The pearls used for these creations were no easy feat to source, I hear. They come from a renowned expert on natural saltwater pearls in the Gulf region, Hussein Al Fardan, who has the largest private collection of natural saltwater pearls from this part of the world. This is the third time the collector has exclusively opened up his vault for Tiffany & Co. These exceptional pearls have not been exclusively reserved for a variety of Bird on a Pearl brooches, but also appear on necklaces, pendants, rings, and drop earrings.

Hosted at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, and with over 260 high jewellery creations on display, it was the biggest event of its kind ever held by Tiffany & Co. in Thailand – a true celebration of Tiffany’s iconic craftsmanship and the legacy of Jean Schlumberger, whose boundless inspiration from Southeast Asia in the 1950s shaped some of the most iconic jewellery creations of the 20th century. It is said that he often travelled to Bali, India and Thailand to fire his imagination. The energetic and dynamic quality of his work is the result of immersing himself fully in nature. In fact, it was at his home on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe where the designer created some of his most celebrated designs.