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Tiffany & Co. Celebrates JEAN SCHLUMBERGER FANTASTICAL DESIGNS
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By Nicole Ashley Schubert
ean 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 uniquely, 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 jewelry 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 vivants of the in-crowds and soon finding word with designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who was allured by his natural talent, showcasing pieces that reflected dimension and life.
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Metropolitan Magazine | 25AMagazine.com
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.”
