The Pursuit of Perfection

The story of Tiffany & Co's Blue Book 2026 collection is one of gardens, friendship and an abiding love of beauty

- Emma Chong

When Bunny Mellon and Jean Schlumberger met in the late 1950s, it was no great surprise that a friendship began to grow. Bunny Mellon was, by all accounts, a fascinating woman. Depending on who you ask, she was a socialite, a billionaire heiress and a self-taught horticulturalist who revolutionised flowers and gardens at the White House during President John F Kennedy’s time there. Jean Schlumberger was, of course, a brilliant jewellery designer known for his captivating work, first for Elsa Schiaparelli then under his own studio, before his career-defining move to Tiffany & Co.

The friendship was inevitable. Like Bunny Mellon, Jean Schlumberger was largely self-taught. The two were both deeply private, deeply creative and shared a love of the natural world’s beauties. When Bunny Mellon began commissioning pieces from Jean Schlumberger, this was also not surprising, being the natural development of a blossoming friendship.

The significance would only come to bear in years to come. When you think of key jewellery pieces that we now associate with the House of Tiffany & Co, many were born from the foundations of this friendship. The incredible Bird on a Rock, to start—Bunny Mellon owned one of the very first iterations of this design, a diamond-encrusted bird perched atop a massive lapis lazuli cabochon. She loved the Sixteen Stone ring, owned several versions, and would wear them while gardening. Then, of course, the beautiful Flower Pot from 1960, where the love that she and Jean Schlumberger shared for nature came to sparkling life in the form of a 4.41-carat diamond flower growing out of a terracotta pot, set with an amethyst and emeralds.