Jean Schlumberger
(1907 - 1987)
Jean Schlumberger was born in Mulhouse, in German-controlled Alsace,on June 24, 1907 into a family of textile manufacturers. Since a very early age Schlumberger had a great talent for
drawing which his parents tried to discourage. In 1930 Schlumberger was sent to Berlin to pursue a career in banking. That same year Schlumberger moved to Paris where he decided to develop his artistic creativity.
Schlumberger began designing jewelry using porcelain flowers and gemstones mounted as clips, which he gave as gifts to his friends. Elsa Schiaparelli, the famous couturier, soon discovered the young designer's talents and hired him to create costume jewelry and buttons for her collections.
During World War II, Schlumberger enlisted in the French Army and also under General Charles de Gaulle in England and the Free French Forces in the Middle East. After the war, Schlumberger moved to New York and began to design clothing for Chez Ninon.
In 1946, Schlumberger opened a jewelry salon with partner Nicolas Bongard. Ten years later in 1956, the president of Tiffany & Co., Walter Hoving asked Schlumberger to join the firm.
Once settled at Tiffany’s Schlumberger allowed complete freedom to his imagination, creating a new kind of jewelry and objects (fantasy jewelry and ornaments) made real and precious. His jewelry embraced classic design principles of the Renaissance, including the use of depth, dimensions and the combination of a variety of materials. Schlumberger connected history, pageantry, myth and nature along with opulence, sometimes bold color through gold gems and enamels.
In his first year at Tiffany’s, Schlumberger designed one of the most famous Tiffany pieces; the mounting for the Tiffany Diamond which had been in the firm's collection since the nineteenth century. The brooch, entitled "Bird on a Rock", incorporates the impressive 128.54 carats (25.71 g) yellow diamond in a fanciful setting typical of Schlumberger's style.
Schlumberger was the first designer granted the privilege to stamp his creations with his own name; the others are Paloma Picasso, Elsa Peretti and Frank Gehry.
Schlumberger loved baroque fantasies, the richness of mythical creatures like the unicorn, phoenix or Pegasus or the sultry exoticism of “Blackamoors” and the East. But most of all Schlumberger drew inspiration from the sea, from oceanic creatures and plants with a bizarre touch of the surreal or pre-historic.
The explosion of movement and color which became his hallmark was always balanced with a precision of line, which recalled his own skilled draughtsmanship and his fascination with old illustrated books, the renditions of medicinal herbs, for example, shells, flora and fauna, or illustrations from the nineteenth century cookery books.
Schlumberger’s wealthy and famous clients were often his friends and came from both sides of the Atlantic, such as Daisy Fellowes, Mrs. Harrison Williams, Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, the Mellon’s and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, Rachel Lambert Mellon, C.Z. Guest, Francoise de la Renta, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, Lyn Revson, Gloria Vanderbilt, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.
Schlumberger’s major contributions to Tiffany and jewelry’s history were his inspired use of materials and color. He was largely responsible for reviving the taste for rich, sun-colored yellow gold, which he emboldened with enamels in clear, bright, strong colors, often pinned with his signature gold studs or nails. In 1961 Jean Schlumberger’s Ribbon Necklace was worn by Audrey Hepburn in the presentation photographs for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
In 1962, Schlumberger created gold ribbed and studded bangles, inspired in the nineteenth century art of paillonné enamel, a process of achieving translucent colors by laying enamel over 18k gold leaf. These striking enamel bracelets, in vivid red, blue and green colored gems, some with cross-stitches called Croisillons were often worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and became classics. Jackie wore so many of these bangles that the press dubbed them “Jackie bracelets.”
A great innovator, Schlumberger brought back the 19th century art of paillonné enamel, a process of achieving translucent colors by laying enamel over 18k gold leaf. His magnificent enamel bracelets, in vivid red, blue and green spiked with gold, became the signature accessory of every stylish woman's wardrobe. Jacqueline Kennedy was so often photographed wearing the enamel bracelets, the press called them “Jackie bracelets.”
Schlumberger was the first jewelry designer to win the coveted Fashion Critics Coty Award in 1958. In 1977, the French government made him a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit. A 1986 exhibition at Tiffany & Co. marked Schlumberger’s 30th Anniversary with the company. In 1995, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France honored Schlumberger with a retrospective entitled, “Un Diamant dans la Ville.” This museum houses Schlumberger’s original designs today. The world's largest collection of Schlumberger objects was given by Paul Mellon to The Virginia Museum of Fine Art’s permanent collection.
Before his death, Jean Schlumberger returned to Paris, France. He died in 1987, at the age of eighty. Jean Schlumberger is often described as one of the most gifted artists of the 20th century.
