Jean Schlumberger Sets Paris Elite Afire With His Emblazoned Jewelry, Now Piquing Interest of Today’s Sophisticated In-Circle’s Across Palm Beach To Jean Schlumberger, Paris was a destination of romantic luster, beguiling with society’s elite whom he dressed in spectacular jeweled statements that were gilded in his creative impulses.
It was the 1930s, and the aristocrats of the romantic city, which bore lamp post lit sidewalks and cafes adorned with bundles of pastel-colored tables and chairs, were eager to seek Schlumberger’s designs that were unique, and often times audaciously conceptualized. Once, he even famously transformed Messein porcelain flowers, found on an old chandelier, into elegant clips for his sophisticated friend circle.
And to his delight, and to everyone else’s, they were an immediate hit. His fantastical jewellery designs, many of which were created from relics picked up from the Marche des Puces, Paris’s then-popular flea market, quickly spread through the city, decorating the bon vivant of the in-crowds and soon finding a word with designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who was allured by his natural talent, showcasing pieces that reflected dimension and life.
Here, it was the earrings Schiaparelli saw the Duchess of Kent wearing, which Schlumberger originally designed as a novelty. She was instantaneously mesmerized. And as a rising fashion designer whose fans spanned from conservative women to wives of diplomats, banker tycoons and visionary artists, Schiaparelli saw a perfect fit with Schlumberger, employing him as the lead designer on her accessory collections, including costume jewelry and suit buttons. He succeeded to reign supreme under Schiaparelli, understanding her vision for elegance, however bringing his own dissimilar flair to her already fashionable ready-to-wear that were afire with high society. Synonymous with the ultra-smart designer, who often embraced eccentricity in even the smallest of ways, Schlumberger pinned everything from exotic plants to glamorous displays of birds and hybrids of starfish turned into stars to suit jackets and sport coats. He was especially inspired by forms of animals, vegetables, minerals, fruits and insects and the opportunity of what they can evolve into. “I try to make everything look as if it were growing, uneven, organic,” said Schlumberger. “I want to capture the irregularity of the universe.”
“I want to capture the irregularity of the universe.”
From working with Schiaparelli, Schlumberger went on to create deeply imaginative pieces, many of which stemmed from his impressive and now legendary drawings, using ultrafine tracing paper, pen and India ink as his medium to create shapes and motifs that began as natural forms in the environment. However, it wasn’t until 1956, when he became an official icon in his own right, partnering with Tiffany & Co. as Vice President.
Here, Schlumberger paved a new chapter for the brand, ushering in poised designs that flaunted unconventionalities and irregularities, all while set on rare-colored diamonds and gemstones, including both his Bird on a Rock and Dolphin clip, which joined Elizabeth Taylor’s revered private jewelry collection as a present from Richard Burton on the night of his 1964 premiere of the film, The Night of the Iguana.
Today, as an emblem of Tiffany & Co. and a figure who changed the world of jewelry, altering the possibilities of what can be designed from nature’s sight and transformed into emblazoning pieces, Schlumberger’s extraordinary wonders have continued. Presently, they can be seen as a part of Tiffany & Co.’s 2021 Blue Book Collection, Colors of Nature, where his designs are once again united with the natural world, along with technicolor-tinted gemstones.
Much like the sophisticated high-society of Paris that delighted in Schlumberger’s jewelry, Tiffany & Co., suggests Palm Beach in-circles to bejewel themselves alike in The Croisillon bracelets, which were some of Schlumberger’s most desirable designs and remain just as coveted in today’s culture, reflecting the timelessly modern aesthetic that he is continuously celebrated for.
Tiffany & Co.HONORS JEAN SCHLUMBERGER’S AFFINITY FOR THE NATURAL WORLD
Where The Imaginable Becomes Attainable In A Symphony ofTechnicolor Diamonds & Gemstones By Nicole Ashley Schubert in today’s most elite societies and sophisticated in-circles, whether in the historic, pastel-colored tropics of Palm Beach or beyond, the legendary Parisian jewelry maker, Jean Schlumberger, continues to be revered for his visionary authority on diamonds and deeply masterful creations that originally sparked instantaneous brilliance at Tiffany & Co.
n the 1960s. Celebrating beauty, glamour and taste throughout all of his unabashedly hard chic designs, many of which were dissimilarly audacious yet always baring fanciful details, what Schlumberger proved to be most powerful among his collections and remains to pique interest with aristocrats today, is his chromatic display of the natural world, bringing form to lush botanicals, underwater fauna and sea animals that were initially inspired by his time spent at his home on the French Caribbean Island of Guadalupe.
It was here, inside his reimagined oasis that was detailed with naturalistic themes, that Schlumberger imagined some of his most illustrious pieces, oftentimes escaping his abodes to draw influence from the environment, striking an affinity for what nature’s beauty can unexpectedly be transformed into. According to Tiffany & Co., Schlumberger’s iconic Oiseau de Paradis clip, which is a mythical bird that glows with the kaleidoscopic colors of yellow beryl, amethysts, emeralds and sapphires, was one of the designers many creations that was influenced by his leisurely discoveries on the island. It too is an example, reflecting his innate ability to find something hidden in the exotism of the outdoors and inject it with an imaginative and always animative spirit. These decadently jovial creations, like the Oiseau de Paradis clip and others, including the Jellyfish brooch that was motivated by an anecdote of his friend who
was stung by a jellyfish while on vacation, enriched Tiffany & Co. with whimsy and wrote a new manifesto for the brand that was unconventionally infused with wit and curiosity.
Even the rare gemstones that he used represented provocative scenes of nature, from abundant verdant landscapes manifested through rare Colombian emeralds to azure blue seas and electric color swatches of underwater fauna realized with aquamarines, tsavorites and sapphires. In addition, even many of the sapphires chosen, baring hues of yellow and orange, captured the sun-lamped skies above.
This season, synonymous with Schlumberger’s mesmerizing statements, Tiffany & Co. is honoring the virtuous designer with a collection of bejeweled wonders that were illustriously conceptualized by him and his drawings, including the intricately fashioned Floral Leaves Clip, Ladybug Pendant and Peapod Brooch, each which are reminiscent of the designer’s fascination with the natural world and his time in Guadalupe. Coined Tiffany & Co.’s 2021 Blue Book Collection, Colors of Nature, Palm Beach bon vivants can now seek the beauty of nature in its purest form, as seen through Schlumberger’s eyes, transformed into diamonds, colored gemstones and rock crystal.
Here, four themes are showcased, Earth, Land, Sea and Sky, along with 70 creations that elevate the purpose of nature as it seems to be, while also bringing it a dose of avant-garde that suggests the imaginable become attainable. Painted in a technicolor symphony, the jewels are playful and majestic, while organized in precision
and conjuring Schlumberger’s above all willingness to take risks and turn them into elements of the extraordinary
