Jean Schlumberger’s “Ribbons” Reappear in These New Tiffany & Co. Handbags - Galerie

Blue Book 1973. Photo: The Tiffany Archives

A new collection of exceptional leather handbags has landed at Tiffany & Co. Crafted in responsibly sourced calfskin, and exotics like alligator, stingray, lizard and ostrich, the Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany Ribbons Handbag Collection silhouettes provide a smart, elegant stage for the design’s central feature: a glamorous circular closure detailed with Schlumberger’s iconic ribbons motif.

Defined by overlapping and crisscrossed grosgrain ribbons wrought in gold, this unique texture touched many product categories over the course of Schlumberger’s career at Tiffany and holds prominence in the canon of his finest creations for the house.

The ribbons—inspired by the Schlumberger family’s legacy in French textiles—made their first appearance not long after the maestro began his tenure at Tiffany & Co. in 1956. One of his first undertakings was to mount the famed 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond in a design that featured a tapestry of diamond-and-gold ribbons now known as the Ribbon Rosette necklace.

A year later, Schlumberger resurfaced that dimensional technique to adorn cigarette cases, makeup compacts, and other accessories crafted in gold. Now, one of those makeup compacts—from 1957, to be exact—has been reimagined as handbag hardware, albeit on a magnificent scale.

The colorways are inspired by Jean Schlumberger’s iconic paillonné enamel bangles. Photo: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

The closure on each handbag is offered in one of four iterations: bicolor, enamel, gold vermeil and 18k gold with diamonds. Photo: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

The closure on each handbag is offered in one of four iterations: bicolor, enamel, gold vermeil and 18k gold with diamonds. An exclusive feature of the 18k gold and diamond closure is that it is detachable and doubles as a brooch. (An extra 24k gold-plated “understudy” clasp is included so that the bag may be carried when the jewel is being worn.)

The collection consists of a shoulder bag offered in small and medium sizes, and a minaudière that comes in either a rectangular or circular shape. The colorways, inspired by Jean Schlumberger’s iconic paillonné enamel bangles, are strikingly vibrant: Ruby, Carnelian, Kunzite, Tanzanite among other jewel tones (in addition to classic black, white and—of course—Tiffany Blue).

Like the overlapping, intertwining ribbons of the Schlumberger design, these handbags connect an important chapter of Tiffany’s aesthetic history to the modern elegance of its current identity. It seems Schlumberger—if he could see how his finest work has been reimagined anew—might agree. In his own words:

“I believe a jewel needs a raison d’être, a meaning: its style should be rational and intelligible, its different volumes should be offset by compensatory effects and not by repetition; the component elements, while being different, should give a feeling of continuity by creating an asymmetry of detail that is not necessarily visible but infinitely perceptible on the emotional level.”

The Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany Ribbons Handbag Collection will be sold online and at select Tiffany & Co. stores around the world.

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