Gem set and diamond necklace, 'Jasmin', Jean Schlumberger, 1973

Composed of a line of coloured gemstones, including aquamarines, citrines, peridots, pink, yellow and blue sapphires, highlighted with jasmine flower and bud motifs set with brilliant-cut diamonds, length approximately 420mm, signed Schlumberger, French assay marks. 

"Un Diamant dans la Ville. Jean Schlumberger, 1907-1987. Bijoux - Objets", Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 19 October 1995 - 25 February 1996, lot no. 65.

Cf.: Chantal Bizot et alii, The Jewels of Jean Schluberger, Paris, 1995, pg. 35 for an illustration of this necklace. 

Cf.: Vivienne Becker, Jean d'Ormesson et alii, Jean Schlumberger, Milan, 1991, pg. 87 for an illustration of the original model dated 1963.

Cf.: Un Diamant dans la Ville. Jean Schlumberger, 1907-1987. Bijoux - Objets, Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, exh. cat., 1995, pgs. 34-35 for the illustration of this necklace. 

Signed Schlumberger. French assay marks for platinum and 18 carat gold. Central sapphire measuring approximately 18.79 x 15.42 x 11.93mm and estimated to weigh approximately 30.00 - 35.00 carats, blue of medium strong saturation, with small typical inclusions visible under 10 x magnification. Coloured stones with minor inclusions, some visible under close inspection or 10 x magnification. Diamonds estimated to weigh a total of approximately 78.00 - 85.00 carats, on average G-H colour, VS-SI clarity, as gauged and graded in the mounting. Signs of normal wear to the metal. In very good condition. Gross weight approximately 323 grams.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that colour, clarity and weight of gemstones are statements of opinion only and not statements of fact by Sotheby's. We do not guarantee, and are not responsible for any certificate from a gemological laboratory that may accompany the property. We do not guarantee that watches are in working order. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue, in particular to the Notice regarding the treatment and condition of gemstones and to the Notice regarding import of Burmese jadeite and rubies into the US.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"The word of Schlumberger is situated at the point where dream, nature and history meet... Nothing could be further removed from fashion than Schlumberger's objects. Heedless of elegance or a dangerously slick chic, they proceed directly from desire to beauty. They feed upon architecture, and fauna, and flora, and illuminated manuscripts and distant memories of places and periods - the tropics or the Middle Age. But very soon they free themselves from anecdote and allusion to exist in their own right. I see Schlumberger as closer to a choreographer, a botanist, even a psychoanalyst than a fashionable jeweller, attracted by bestiaries and palimpsests rather than by catalogues... There is a nobility in Schlumberger's work; and, despite the gold and precious stones, it is a nobility which is intellectual rather than physical. He makes use of nature, but somewhat against nature itself; he uses its shifts and turns, but in order to control them. He disregards recreation to the benefit of creation and re-creation...

Schlumberger's objects pass from the realm of history, whether natural or mythical, into the realm of beauty. This beauty is rarity, precision, balance, choice. It is also discipline, patience, truth, poetry. Schlumberger's objects, so harmonious, so tangible, are not positioned in space alone; they seem to rise before us from a world of will and idea. Because they have chosen art as against fashion, because they are the fruit of reflection and slow ripening, Schlumberger's objects have time on their side. They will be beautiful tomorrow as they are today"; Jean d'Ormesson, in Jean Schlumberger, Milan, 1994, pg. 13.

The important collection from a distinguished European family is a testimony to the taste and style of the 1960s and 1970s. This very nice array of jewels comports several pieces from the master jeweller Schlumberger and is a tribute to his craftsmanship and ingenuity.