Jean Schlumberger For Tiffany Fish

Jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger once said that he strived to “make everything look as if it were growing, uneven, at random, organic, in motion.” His jewels interpreted the vitality of the natural world with lively designs that included a moonstone-topped jellyfish brooch with sapphire tentacles exuding a watery shimmer and a ring encrusted with a burst of diamonds that “bloomed” like a flower bud.

A self-taught jeweler, Schlumberger’s mastery of color as well as his expertise as a draftsman brought his fantastic ideas to life. Born to a leading textile manufacturing family in Alsace, France, Schlumberger took to drawing as a child and showed promise as an artist, but his parents instead sent him to study banking in Berlin in the 1930s. Uninspired, he departed for Paris and began creating buttons for Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who also commissioned him for costume jewelry.

One of Schlumberger’s early pieces — a cigarette lighter in the form of a fish whose head opened to reveal the flame — demonstrated his skill for capturing the vivacity of nature in precious metal. The designer’s imaginative jewelry was in contrast to popular geometric lines of Art Deco, an independent vision he affirmed in the extravagant 1941 Trophée de Vaillance brooch created for fashion editor Diana Vreeland. An extravagant confection of diamonds, amethyst, rubies and gold, the brooch featured gemstones adorning an intricate intersection of tiny spears and a breastplate over a glittering shield.

After serving in the French army and the Free French forces during World War II — and surviving the Battle of Dunkirk — Schlumberger left war-torn Europe for New York and in 1946 established a jewelry salon with Nicolas Bongard. There, his vibrant work caught the eye of Tiffany Co. After joining the American luxury jewelry house in 1956, he soon had his own studio on the mezzanine of Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store that he accessed by a private elevator. In his workshop, Schlumberger used a rainbow of gemstones, gold and diamonds to create some of the company’s most beguiling designs.

From striking earrings shaped like soaring wings to diamond birds perched on glittering gemstones, each of Schlumberger’s Tiffany designs dazzled. His supporters included Bunny Mellon, whose love for horticulture inspired commissions such as the Jasmine necklace with diamond blossoms flowering from a garland of colored sapphires, and Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore his Croisillon bracelets so often they became known as “Jackie bracelets.” Schlumberger retired from Tiffany in the late 1970s, but decades after his designs were introduced many of his popular pieces remain in production.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary range of vintage Jean Schlumberger jewelry designed for Tiffany Co.

Gold is the feel-good metal, the serotonin of jewelry. Wear vintage and antique gold necklaces, watches, gold bracelets or gold rings and you feel happy, you feel dressed, you feel, well, yourself. 

Gold, especially yellow gold, with its rich patina and ancient pedigree going back thousands of years, is the steady standby, the well-mannered metal of choice. Any discussion of this lustrous metal comes down to a basic truth: Gold is elementary, my dear. Gold jewelry that couples the mystique of the metal with superb design and craftsmanship achieves the status of an enduring classic. Many luxury houses have given us some of our most treasured and lasting examples of gold jewelry over the years.

Since its founding, in 1837, Tiffany Co. has built its reputation on its company jewelry as well as its coterie of boutique designers, which has included Jean Schlumberger, Donald Claflin, Angela Cummings and Elsa Peretti. There are numerous gold Tiffany classics worth citing. Some are accented with gemstones, but all stand out for their design and the workmanship displayed.

For the woman who prefers a minimalist look, the Tiffany Co. twist bangle (thin, slightly ovoid) is stylishly simple. For Cummings devotees, signature pieces feature hard stone inlay, such as her pairs of gold ear clips inlaid with black jade (a play on the classic Chanel black and tan), or bangles whose design recalls ocean waves, with undulating lines of lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. And just about any design by the great Jean Schlumberger is by definition a classic.

Even had he eschewed stones and diamonds, Southern-born David Webb would be hailed for the vast arsenal of heavy gold jewelry he designed. Gold, usually hammered or textured in some manner, defines great David Webb jewelry. The self-taught jeweler made very au courant pieces while drawing inspiration from ancient and out-of-the-way sources — East meets West in the commanding gold necklaces made by Webb in the early 1970s. The same could be said for his endlessly varied gold cuffs.

In Europe, many houses have given us gold jewelry that sets the highest standard for excellence, pieces that were highly sought after when they were made and continue to be so. 

Numerous designs from Cartier are homages to gold. There are the classic Trinity rings, necklaces and bracelets — trifectas of yellow, white and rose gold. As a testament to the power of love, consider the endurance of the Cartier Love bracelet.

Aldo Cipullo, Cartier’s top in-house designer from the late 1960s into the early ’70s, made history in 1969 with the Love bracelet. Cipullo frequently said that the Love bracelet was born of a sleepless night contemplating a love affair gone wrong and his realization that “the only remnants he possessed of the romance were memories.” He distilled the urge to keep a loved one close into a slim 18-karat gold bangle. 

BVLGARI and its coin jewelry, gemme nummarie, hit the jackpot when the line launched in the 1960s. The line has been perennially popular. BVLGARI coin jewelry features ancient Greek and Roman coins embedded in striking gold mounts, usually hung on thick link necklaces of varying lengths. In the 1970s, BVLGARI introduced the Tubogas line, most often made in yellow gold. The Tubogas watches are classics, and then there is the Serpenti, the house's outstanding snake-themed watches and bracelets.

A collection called Monete that incorporated the gold coins is one of several iconic BVLGARI lines that debuted in the 1970s and ’80s, catering to a new generation of empowered women. Just as designers like Halston and Yves Saint Laurent were popularizing fuss-free ready-to-wear fashion for women on the go, BVLGARI offered jewels to be lived in. 

Since Van Cleef Arpels opened its Place Vendôme doors in 1906, collection after collection of jewelry classics have enchanted the public. As predominantly expressed in a honeycomb of gold, there is the Ludo watch and accessories, circa the 1920s, and the golden Zip necklace, 1951, whose ingenious transformation of the traditional zipper was originally proposed by the Duchess of Windsor. Van Cleef's Alhambra, with its Moroccan motif, was introduced in 1968 and from the start its popularity pivoted on royalty and celebrity status. It remains one of VCA’s most popular and collected styles.

Mention must be made of Buccellati, whose name is synonymous with gold so finely spun that it suggests tapestry. The house’s many gold bracelets, typically embellished with a few or many diamonds, signified taste and distinction and are always in favor on the secondary market. Other important mid-20th-century houses known for their gold-themed jewelry include Hermès and Ilias Lalaounis.

Find a stunning collection of vintage and antique gold jewelry on 1stDibs.