Starfish, urchins and ocean flora: Tiffany & Co.'s new High Jewellery collection is an ode to the sea

Last month, Tiffany & Co. unveiled the latest chapter in its storied Blue Book series with Sea of Wonder – a High Jewellery collection inspired by the ocean’s depths and mysteries. Revealed in New York, the collection draws on the fantastical marine visions of legendary Tiffany designer Jean Schlumberger, traversing the full spectrum of the sea, from the tangible to the imagined, through an extraordinary array of brooches and fine jewellery.

In 10 elaborate chapters, Tiffany & Co. takes consumers on an underwater exploration. With the first six released for spring and the final four to follow, the collection drips with brilliance. Diamonds, moonstones, emeralds and more create a magnificent colour palette that evokes the iridescent shimmer of light filtering through ocean depths, whilst 18-carat gold settings create shapes mimetic of waves or the geometric majesty of shells.

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For this exquisite collection, Tiffany & Co.'s Chief artistic officer of jewellery and high jewellery, Nathalie Verdeille, has utilised the motifs that explore the known ocean. In chapters entitled Wave, Seahorse, Sea Turtle, Ocean Flora, Starfish and Urchin, Verdeille combines colours, shapes and expert craftsmanship into exquisite jewellery that boasts the grandeur of our oceans.

Below, we submerge ourselves in the marvel of each of the chapters from the 'Blue Book: Sea of Wonder':

Etherial, flowing and elegant, the collection begins with the lush world of oceanic plants. Ocean Flora draws inspiration from a series of illustrations by Schlumberger originally commissioned for Vogue. Fluid shapes in necklaces and earrings evoke the sense of an undersea garden as tendrils of vivid green Zambian emeralds waft gently in the ocean currents of 16.5 carat diamonds. Rings crafted from flawless D-colour diamonds evoke beams refracting magnificently around the sea bed, dispersing light all around.

The seahorse brooches created by Schlumberger in 1968 are a timeless classic, forever immortalised in the Tiffany archives. In this chapter, Vedeille takes inspiration from the infamous article, lifting it into the modern era. In brooch form, the seahorse is adorned with an unexpected mixture of coloured gemstones for texture, whilst magnificent rings utilise the contrast of colours for an elegant touch. The necklace from this chapter brings together a joyous mixture of 83-carat zircons crafted into an impressive geometric layout. The sharp brilliance of the zircons is set off by ethereal moonstone placements, creating a gentleness, reminiscent of the elegant creature.

This chapter takes its inspiration from a previous Blue Book collection circa 1961 to offer a modern reinterpretation of archival brooches. Diamond-rich lines marry with gold detailing to amplify the organic movement of the sea turtle motif. On the necklace, intricately engraved geometric shapes of aquamarines, turquoise, and diamonds expertly mimic the creature's magnificent shell, whilst a hidden mechanism allows the pendant to be worn as a brooch - a touch inspired by the turtle’s first journey from land to sea.

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During his first year at Tiffany & Co. in 1956, Schlumberger created an elegant diamond-and-pearl brooch. It is from this design that the Starfish chapter draws its inspiration. In a reimagination of the marine creature, Vedeille transforms it into high jewellery that is both marine and fantastical. Rose-cut and round brilliant diamonds lend themselves to the textured and sculptural silhouette of the starfish, elegantly contrasted by breathtaking Mozambique rubies.

Drawing inspiration directly from the natural state of the urchin, this chapter brings together the natural and the surreal. The high-jewellery creation expertly mimics the urchin’s complex form in incredible tallow diamonds, set in loops of 18k yellow gold “rope.” Other designs are swathes in pailloné enamel (a nineteenth-century technique Schlumberger is credited with reviving), which suggests the delicate and thorny texture of the urchin, whilst capturing the iridescence of the sea.

In the final chapter, volumes and textures collide, alluding to the dramatic movements and dances of the ocean. Inspired by Schlumberger’s beloved Leaves necklace, these pieces are graphic and dimensional. Opulent waves of diamonds mimic waves crashing on the neckline, articulated by electrical aquatic hues of blue and green cuprian elbaite tourmalines.