Permanent exhibition.

To showcase the collection of thirty-seven gold and precious stone jewels and the twenty-seven drawings and paintings for designs that Dalí created between 1941 and 1970, we considered exhibiting them in the corner adjacent to the Galatea Tower, transforming it into a dark, almost sacred space where all the focus would be on the content: the jewels themselves. The entrance is through the corner; the jewels from the first period – the small, wearable ones – are displayed on the ground floor. We designed an opaque revolving door so that the light entering through the entrance would not dazzle the visitors, who would be immersed in a dark and mysterious space.

Once the jewels from this first period have been viewed, and taking advantage of the double space of the staircase, we reach The Apotheosis of the Dollar, the immense oil painting that compiles all of Dalí's symbolism up until 1965. As we ascend the staircase, we enter the small room where only El Cáliz de la Vida and El Corazón Real are exhibited. El Cáliz, freestanding, and the pulsating Corazón (one of the most significant works of the Master) are placed at the centre of a panel that allows only a frontal view, just as Dalí had intended. After leaving this space, visitors explore all the large jewels from the final period, the mechanical ones, which are true sculptures, before reaching the old staircase that leads back to the ground floor.

All the jewels, except for the two exceptions described earlier, are enclosed in prisms of the same height, square in shape, rotated 45 degrees, and sized appropriately for each piece. These prisms are embedded into the continuous iron wall on two of its sides. The two embedded sides serve as the access points to the display case; they are opaque and made from a material suitable for the jewel on display. The anti-theft measures were extremely strict (only the material of the jewels has an incalculable value), with three layers of glass, and safely opening them from the front was not feasible. The jewels photographed on female models have backgrounds screen-printed with these photos, from which we had old period copies. The pieces were illuminated with optic fiber, and, with the guidance of a team of gemologists, the colour temperature was selected to suit each stone in the jewel, highlighting and accentuating its unique brilliance. Some jewels are showcased on a large piece of rock crystal, in which case, lighting was installed beneath to enhance the iridescence of the crystal.

There is a considerable distance between each jewel, and each piece is displayed alongside the corresponding watercolour design, which is shown behind a large, polished, and varnished iron panel, with windows through which the watercolour can be viewed. It is important to show the relationship between the drawing and the jewel; in the drawing, all the ideas are present. We are reminded once again of Dalí’s principle that everything is cognitive, nothing is ornamental. The jewels are fantastic, also the drawings, but the relationship between the two is even better. These are projects that the jeweler has respected with complete devotion. This is an exhibition that should be visited slowly, at a leisurely pace and with time, as the pieces are small, and the work is prodigious, intricate, and highly detailed. As a designer and architect, I see the watercolours as true projects – wonderful projects – from which the jewels were made. The public that visits them in Figueres views them in a way never seen before.