At Taj Lake Palace, Tiffany & Co.’s Bird On A Rock Finds A New Setting In The Living Heritage Of Mewar

Udaipur has a way of making even the most storied brands look young. Tiffany & Co., founded in 1837 and custodian of one of the most recognised names in American jewellery, came to Taj Lake Palace this month for the latest chapter of a design just as storied as the city itself: Bird on a Rock, the diamond-set brooch Jean Schlumberger first sketched for Tiffany in 1965. Shriji Huzur Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, the 77th Custodian of the House of Mewar, hosted the unveiling on the palace's island grounds in Lake Pichola in an intimate cultural experience of exquisite crafstmanship and high jewellery.

The morning began with an intimate breakfast for the Custodian's close friends and family. Set within the palace’s historic surroundings, the morning offered guests a look to the legacy of Mewar before turning their attention to Tiffany & Co.’s latest creations.

This was followed by the grand unveiling. The Bird on a Rock was reimagined across fine and high jewellery by Chief Artistic Officer Nathalie Verdeille, along with its more abstract sibling, Wings. Verdeille's team spent years studying how birds hold themselves in flight and translating that motion into diamonds, platinum and yellow gold. The results, as the guests beheld at the Taj Lake Palace, made a strong case for undying relevance of the Bird six decades after its introduction.

The selection also included a run of Tiffany's signature timepieces: the Tiffany Enamel Watch, made with the rare paillonné enamel technique, the Tiffany Eternity, Tiffany HardWear, the Sixteen Stone Mother-of-Pearl Ruby Watch, which takes Schlumberger's Sixteen Stone motif and sets it spinning across a dial of mother-of-pearl, diamonds and rubies.

The day gave way into an exclusive cocktail evening attended by the the likes of Vipul Shah, Isha Jajodia, Farhana Bodi, Aastha Khetan, Jaya Raheja, Jayna Lakhiani, Anushree Chaudhary, Aishwarya Bansal and Kavita Rathore, alongside the Dholakia family from Surat. Moving from the intimacy of a private breakfast to an evening soirée, the event allowed Tiffany & Co.’s creations to be experienced in two very different shades of Udaipur’s social and cultural landscape.

At Taj Lake Palace, two distinct legacies therefore met on common ground: Tiffany & Co.’s tradition of craftsmanship and Mewar’s living cultural heritage. The result was an experience shaped by jewellery, architecture and hospitality, with Bird on a Rock providing a fitting link between the past and the possibilities of its next chapter.