Tiffany & Co. is celebrating the first anniversary of its flagship store Tiffany Ginza, which opened on July 11, 2025, with the announcement of a Japan-exclusive high jewelry collection and a special installation inspired by The Tiffany Archive.
Japan-Exclusive "Bird on a Rock" High Jewelry Collection
The Japan-exclusive high jewelry collection embodies the brand's creativity and exceptional craftsmanship. It takes inspiration from Tiffany & Co.'s enduring icon, the "Bird on a Rock," originally created by Jean Schlumberger in 1965 as a symbol of joy, hope, and infinite possibility.
Honoring the delicate transitions and emotions brought by Japan's four seasons — spring, summer, autumn, and winter — four "Bird on a Rock" brooches have been created, each representing a different season. The iconic design of a bird perched atop a gemstone has been reinterpreted through the lens of Japan's natural beauty and poetic sensibility, with meticulous attention to every detail including the selection of gemstones, richly expressing the essence of each season.
Each "Bird on a Rock" brooch is a one-of-a-kind creation born from close collaboration between Nathalie Verdeille, Senior Vice President and Chief Artistic Officer of Jewelry and High Jewelry, and Victoria Reynolds, Vice President and Chief Gemologist. The distinctive combination of gemstones gives each bird its own individual character, embodying Tiffany & Co.'s artistry and imaginative creativity.
Spring
The spring piece features morganite, whose graceful color evokes Japan's cherry blossoms (sakura). In 1910, Dr. George F. Kunz, Tiffany & Co.'s Chief Gemologist, named this gemstone in honor of his friend and Tiffany client J.P. Morgan. With a history of more than 115 years, morganite is known as a symbol of love and success. Its soft radiance delicately reflects the poetic tranquility and gentleness of Japan's spring.
Summer
The summer piece features an oval cabochon black opal with a fantastical play of color. This gemstone shimmers with colors reminiscent of summer's vivid hues. The play of color unique to black opal has been elevated into art throughout history, as seen in Louis Comfort Tiffany's Black Opal Dragonfly Brooch. Each stone has its own one-of-a-kind character, reflecting the fleeting beauty of nature within its radiance. Custom-cut turquoise and diamonds harmonize beautifully, evoking the midsummer sea sparkling in sunlight and shimmering water surfaces, expressing the vitality of the season.
Autumn
The autumn piece features an orangey-pink tourmaline as the center stone, symbolizing abundance. Tourmaline, the October birthstone, has long been regarded as a symbol of hope for its wide range of colors. Among these, orangey-pink tourmaline symbolizes maturity and richness, deeply connected to Tiffany & Co.'s heritage through Dr. George F. Kunz's legacy and the history of designers who used it to express the vitality of nature. Its vivid, deep color evokes ripened fruit and blazing autumn foliage, capturing the scenery of deepening fall. The delicate gradation created by its pleochroism also recalls the shifting beauty of mountains changing color, capturing the moment when nature is at its most richly adorned.
Winter
The winter piece features a freeform crystal opal exceeding 40 carats. Crystal opal, a type of water opal, is a rare gemstone characterized by exceptional transparency and a vivid play of color. Its appearance changes with the angle of light, and its presence evokes the Japanese aesthetic of "stillness within movement" that has long been cherished, as well as symbolizing the accidental beauty and rarity that nature creates. The crystal opal used in this "Bird on a Rock" is a particularly beautiful gemstone that expresses both winter's tranquility and hope. Akoya pearls trace the silhouette of the tail feathers, while round fancy diamonds accentuate the pearl head.
Under the message "In Love with Japan," Tiffany & Co. celebrates the store's first anniversary while paying tribute to the precious bond it has cultivated with Japan.
Special Limited-Time Installation at Tiffany Ginza
The first floor of Tiffany Ginza will also feature a special limited-time installation alongside the Japan-exclusive high jewelry, expressing summer through two interpretations. The installation was created by Christopher Young, Vice President and Creative Director of Tiffany Patrimony and Creative Visual Merchandising. One interpretation expresses the poetic sensibility of Japanese summer, while the other captures the energy of a New York summer. The beauty of two distinct cultures and seasons resonates together, embodying Tiffany & Co.'s artistry and creative imagination.
"Tiffany & Co.'s design history has been greatly influenced by Japanese art. Tiffany's early designers drew inspiration from Japan's unique aesthetic sensibilities, materials, and metalworking techniques, creating outstanding works that fused their own creativity with those influences. For this special occasion, we have carefully selected precious works from The Tiffany Archive that were inspired by Japanese art. Among them is a tray combining mixed materials that was exhibited at Tiffany's award-winning display at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle, and a special necklace created under the supervision of Louis Comfort Tiffany. This necklace is one of his earliest surviving works and was first exhibited at the Société des Artistes Français in Paris in 1906.
We are proud to be able to present these historical works in Ginza, as an expression of gratitude to Japan for the inspiration we have received," said Christopher Young.
Exhibition Details
The four Japan-exclusive "Bird on a Rock" pieces will be on display on the first floor of Tiffany Ginza from July 8 to July 17.
