Before the Masterpiece: Inside a Private Viewing of Jean Schlumberger’s Drawings with Tiffany & Co.

I have been to many jewellery presentations over the years, but never one quite like this: a private viewing of Jean Schlumberger’s original drawings at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Slower-paced and immersive, it felt like savouring my favourite dessert. This was not a showcase focused on finished masterpieces, like I am used to, but a chance to see the very beginning of Schlumberger's story. The presentation, titled 'I Am Only a Pencil', which is a quote from the designer himself, offered a rare glimpse into the mind of the artist who created some of Tiffany's most celebrated jewels.

The by-invitation-only viewing took place in the museum’s Christine and Stephen A. Schwarzman Fashion Galleries, a space that is both intimate and appropriately grand for such an occasion, marking the start of a four-year conservation partnership between Tiffany & Co. and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD). Its goal is ambitious: to conserve, restore and digitally archive approximately 5,000 original Schlumberger drawings and a further 5,000 archival documents, ensuring this fragile legacy survives for future generations of designers, scholars and curators.