This excellent history of Jean Schlumberger and his amazing jewelry is very fine in every respect save one: there aren't enough pictures! Specifically, there aren't enough color pictures. Never one to stick solely to diamonds, Schlumberger made piquant and imaginative use of a wide array of colored gemstones. It's a disappointment that we get to see so many of these creations herein only in sketch or black-and-white photo form. The pieces which are shown in color are blazingly beautiful and intricately detailed--Schlumberger at his very best. All in all, an unevenly enjoyable book.

A fascinating museum catalog with a hard back cover and with an enchanting dust cover, but very lacking of text about a collection of Jean Schlumberger's extraordinary jewels. Had this catalog included more vignettes or even the provenance's of the jewels portrayed, as it does of Diana Vreeland's brooch, and how she propped it up on her night stand to admire, I would have found this book more enriching. Had I not recognized the drawing of Elizabeth Taylor's 'Night of the Iguana' brooch, I would have not known the famous lady who had been presented this Schlumberger treasure by the late Richard Burton. As a fine jeweler of eighteen years, I am as anxious to know and to pass on to my clients how other people's jewels have added enjoyment and meaning to their lives. Jewels are more than art, they are symbols of love and affection, and often they are the only highly valued heirlooms that are passed on from one generation to another. Hence Jewels also represent our immortality and how sad when the stories of those who wore them are unknown to the heirs. This museum catalog of a 1996 Schlumberger exhibition in Paris doesn't give us any titillating provenance's as does Judy Rudoe's "Cartier 1900-1939" exhibition text nor how this important master's creations enriched the collector lives.