Bird on a Flying Tourbillon - Azure Blossom

Tiffany & Co. enriches its high jewelry watch collection with the new Bird on a Flying Tourbillon Azure Blossom that reflects the House’s 188-year legacy of design, craftsmanship, and gemstone expertise.

A new interpretation of the House’s first flying tourbillon timepiece introduced last year, the magnificent new timepiece features a multi-layered dial of champlevé enamel with appliqué lacquered flowers, a diamond-set sub-dial displaying hours and minutes, as well as a diamond-set 18k gold Bird on a Flying Tourbillon mechanism housed beneath a faceted sapphire crystal dome.

Presented in a 39 mm 18k white gold case, Tiffany Co. will offer the Bird on a Flying Tourbillon Azure Blossom in a limited edition of 10 pieces.

Drawing inspiration from the celebrated Bird on a Rock brooch, created for Tiffany & Co. by Jean Schlumberger in 1965, the Bird on a Flying Tourbillon Azure Blossom watch harnesses the House’s exceptional design legacy, blending the arts of jewelry, enameling and lacquer work with the technical expertise of high watchmaking. The flying tourbillon movement is a significant milestone in Tiffany & Co.’s evolution into high watchmaking. The House’s designers, artisans and technical partners dedicated more than two years to designing and developing the timepiece.

The dial brings together five different and highly specialized artistic crafts: champlevé enameling, lacquer work, miniature gold sculpting, diamond setting and the hand-faceting of sapphire crystal. The multiple layers, floral motifs and rich colors of dial evoke the lush gardens so beloved by Jean Schlumberger at his homes in Paris and on the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe.

Alongside the enameling work and lacquer painting—which required a total of 80 hours to complete—a goldsmith and gem-setter collaborate on creating the miniature bird that will be attached to the completed dial. Sculpted by hand from 18k white and yellow gold and set with a total of 70 diamonds, the bird requires a total of 40 hours of work.

Showcasing Tiffany & Co.’s legendary expertise with diamonds, the watch is set with 771 diamonds totaling over 3.8 carats. The 18k white gold case, decorated using the snow-setting technique, features 341 round brilliant diamonds of nearly 2.4 carats. The sub-dial displaying the time is also set with 168 diamonds totaling 0.48 carats. Two decorative plates, visible through the sapphire crystal caseback, are set with 143 diamonds of 0.55 carats. The winding crown, inspired by the emblematic Tiffany® Setting, features a prong-set solitaire diamond of 0.42 carats.

Under Tiffany & Co.’s creative direction, innovative Swiss Haute Horlogerie movement manufacture Artime developed the bespoke movement, Caliber AFT24T01, in its workshop in the Jura region of Switzerland. Comprising 205 components, the hand-wound movement offers a power reserve of 50 hours. The fascinating mechanism is amplified by the faceted sapphire crystal dome positioned above it. Rotating once every minute along with the tourbillon cage, its diamond-like facets catch the light, creating captivating and constantly shifting patterns on the dial.

The transparent sapphire crystal caseback displays the beauty of the flying tourbillon movement, which is hand-finished with a variety of high watchmaking techniques to add richness and contrast; finishes include beveling, sandblasting, straight graining, satin finishing and high polish. The eye is also drawn to two distinctive star-shaped bridges inspired by the emblematic six-pronged Tiffany® Setting, one for the flying tourbillon and the other corresponding to the hours and minutes display.

The new Bird on a Flying Tourbillon Azure Blossom perfectly embodies Tiffany & Co.’s philosophy of watchmaking: harnessing its extraordinary design legacy, expertise in diamonds, and mastery of the decorative crafts to create timepieces of great beauty that invite wearers to discover the fascination of mechanically complex and technically advanced timepieces.