Tiffany & Co. Reawakens Schlumberger’s Enamel Artistry in a New Watch

Time and jewellery rarely intersect so poetically as they do in Tiffany & Co.’s latest homage to Jean Schlumberger. The Enamel watch, a limited-edition release in three variations, revives the bold graphic sensibility of Schlumberger’s 1962 collection, a line that once startled the world with its audacious, almost sculptural elegance.

Encased in 36 millimeters of white or yellow 18k gold and adorned with snow-set diamonds, the watch is more than a measure of hours; it is a miniature canvas. Its dial, a rotating outer ring in Tiffany Blue® paillonné enamel or pristine white enamel, spins around a central cluster of more than 200 diamonds. Each ring is a labor of love, demanding roughly 65 hours of meticulous work: layers of translucent enamel fired over gold or silver leaf, a technique Schlumberger resurrected from 19th-century obscurity.

Enameling is not new to Tiffany. The House has showcased its mastery since the 1870s, when it unveiled an ornate dessert service at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Cloisonné, flinqué, grisaille, these techniques have adorned vases, clocks, brooches, and watches across the decades. Among the highlights are the late-19th-century enamel chatelaine and lapel watches, the Apple Blossom lapel watch of 1889, and Art Deco table clocks of the 1920s. Schlumberger’s paillonné revival added a new dimension, transforming enamel into something almost cinematic, capturing light and depth with every flicker of the wrist.

Small gestures carry weight here. Twelve yellow-gold cross-stitches, the Croisillon, a motif borrowed from Schlumberger’s stacking bangles, mark the hours. The watch’s case-back bears a sunburst engraving inspired by his Floral Arrows brooch, punctuated with fourteen diamonds. A discreet push-button adjusts the Swiss-made quartz movement, marrying technical precision with aesthetic flourish.

The final flourish is in the strap and bracelet: alligator leather matching the enamel’s hue, fastened with a diamond-set T buckle, or, for the high-jewelry version, a full-pavé white-gold bracelet shimmering with an additional 666 diamonds totaling 4.48 carats.