When he founded his House in 1858, Frédéric Boucheron immediately established himself as an enlightened, daring and visionary spirit.
This year, 26 place Vendôme celebrates its 120th anniversary. The new Haute Joaillerie collection, Hôtel de la Lumière, pays tribute to this place of creation where, for 12 decades, a dynasty of craftsmen fascinated by precious stones and passionate about their secrets has shaped the material to better sublimate it and reveal its full aura. This art of light is Boucheron’s signature.
Light is at the origin of both art and life. Better still, it is a guarantee of eternity.
Like stones that can live for millions of years and are passed down from generation to generation, light has the gift of eternal life. It protects and regenerates cells, strengthens and enhances the beautiful, gives radiance to everything and everyone, rejuvenates and seems to stop the passage of time. In this way, it is radiance and a guarantee of eternity.
Boucheron’s constant, boundless quest for brilliance makes it the Joaillier de la Lumière. This art is expressed through a wide range of skills.
Le Soleil Radiant
The Soleil Radiant set, which plays hide-and-seek with the moon, is an airy, very subtle, supple and delicate piece that can be placed on the skin like a collar of light, or around a rock crystal box like a sun kissing the moon.
A nod to the Place Vendôme and its extraordinary radiance, the Soleil Radiant set is a tribute to the Sun King, under whose reign the eyes of the whole world were on France. Designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart – the architect of Versailles – at the request of King Louis XIV, the Place Vendôme shines with gold: the suns on the balconies, of which the Soleil Radiant set is a stylized interpretation.
This set is made up of two independent elements that fit together perfectly: an all-diamond necklace and a circular box in rock crystal and diamonds in the great tradition of Boucheron decorative objects.
“What use is the sun if your eyes are closed?” wrote Salvador Dali. To savour the magic of this jewellery set, one must patiently observe its assembly. The brilliance of diamonds is enhanced by the variety of cuts. The baguette choker is shimmering with rays, alternating tapers, princesses, baguettes and rounds in a skilful arrangement. This meticulous setting, coupled with extraordinary suppleness when worn – all motifs are swaddled one by one so as to be mobile – contributes to the unique character of this set, which took over 1,000 hours to complete.
PAON DE LUNE
A masterpiece of virtuosity, the Paon de Lune set lends itself to metamorphosis through its multi-wear and irregular, ever-changing reflections. Perhaps it’s because the peacock has so often inspired the Maison. The challenge here was to reconnect with tradition, while giving it back its full light, its rarity, its letters of nobility, its unique radiance.
A masterpiece of virtuosity, the Paon de Lune set lends itself to metamorphosis through its multiporté and its irregular, changing reflections.
It was while “playing” with a peacock feather that Frédéric Boucheron and his workshop head had the idea of creating the Point d’Interrogation necklace in 1879: a free, supple, light, airy, celestial jewel! An emblematic creation and an invention of genius, it was designed without a clasp and fitted with a hidden spring to wrap around the neck like a feather. Winner of several World’s Fair awards, the naturalist motif of the Point d’Interrogation necklace has been constantly reinterpreted by Boucheron throughout its history, each time adorned with new finery to make it a unique piece.
The Paon de Lune set pays tribute to the Comtesse de Castiglione (1837-1889), who lived for several years in the entresol of 26 place Vendôme during Frédéric Boucheron’s lifetime, and was considered the most beautiful woman of the Second Empire.
The Paon de Lune set harmoniously blends diamonds, rock crystal, aquamarine and meteorite. Oscillating between sky blue and very pale blue-green reflections, the aquamarine drops are like the ocelli of a moon-colored bird. On either side, baguette and round diamonds have been cut one by one to follow the curve of the plumage. The slightly domed rock-crystal moons give relief to the wings, which seem ready to take flight. The meteorite is a striking addition to this palette. Falling directly from a planet, this stone between heaven and earth is said to be over 4 billion years old.
This set can be worn as a classic choker or as a delicate brooch. Detached from the aquamarine pear, it can be worn as a shoulder brooch or as an object set on a white gold and meteorite swing.
The Moon Peacock set has strong symbolism. In India, the peacock is revered for its close association with fertility. The Chinese regard the bird as a benevolent messenger, bringing prosperity and peace. In many Asian countries, the fall and regrowth of its feathers in springtime is a sign of renewal and immortality.
CASCADE DE DIAMANTS
The Cascade de Diamants necklace is like one of those champagne pyramids where the champagne flows freely and arrives perfectly in each glass. It’s a tribute to César Ritz, with whom Frédéric Boucheron shares so much in common. It’s a generous, assertive set that revives Boucheron’s love for the marriage of crystal and diamonds. It’s a jewel of light that reminds us that Paris is a party!
This set features rock crystal, a transparent stone that has always fascinated the Boucheron family. 150 years ago, Frédéric Boucheron used it in bonbonnières, perfume bottles, cane knobs and mysterious objects such as this openwork silver case with discs of rock crystal and hard stones, said to have belonged to a medium woman who used it to read the astral light of beings. In the 1970s, Alain Boucheron invented astonishing jewels in which blue and pink quartz cohabit harmoniously with white crystal.
The same power of fascination and transparency acts on the senses when looking at the Cascade de Diamants set, which celebrates the marriage of diamond and crystal. Round and baguette-set diamond motifs link together ten hollowed-out crystal elements that form a curve. As if in a crescendo, the crystal elements get larger and larger, and the diamond fragments more and more widely spaced, the closer you get to the face. Inside, this stream of champagne is represented by diamonds that are first hidden by the frosted rock crystal and then revealed by the polishing of the crystal both inside and out, a very delicate gesture to achieve. Streams of rose-cut diamonds are soldered under the diamond motif, then metamorphose into a cascade of round diamonds of different sizes, spilling freely into the open air. This extraordinary play of gradations transforms the cascade of champagne into a cascade of light.
Cascade de Diamants is a promise of eternity. This is the symbolism of diamonds, but also of crystal. In the Middle Ages, it was imagined that the crystal palaces that appeared to travelers lost in the heart of the forest represented the paradise that follows earthly life.
PERLES D’ÉCLAT
It is said that Dom Pérignon wanted to eliminate the bubbles from champagne wines in the 17th century, but soon realized that they were the quintessence of the wine: what makes it beautiful, unique and aromatic. The Perles d’éclat set embodies this nectar of light, effervescence and lightness.
To counterbalance the weight of the rock crystal and make this dense yet very fragile material light, the 19 bubbles in the necklace were patiently hollowed out, then ground and polished – a process that took many hours of work.
Another major challenge: the jeweller has recreated a real life inside the crystal. Shards of diamonds have been swaddled on a rock crystal base, without the use of metal, unlike traditional jewelry. In this way, the diamonds appear to float in three crystal spheres, like three constellations of stars and planets, with the central round diamond as the sun. Adding to this impression of magic is the brilliance of the gold slices paved with diamonds, a Boucheron signature. Boucheron invented this technique in 1900, when a cut diamond disc (called a “slice”) was inserted between each pearl of a necklace to make it more precious.
In this enigmatic yet pure adornment, a revelation plays out that is essential to understanding the Hôtel de la Lumière collection: light radiates from all sides, including and above all where we least expect it, i.e. from within.
HALO DELILAH
In homage to its draper ancestors, Maison Boucheron has always drawn inspiration from Haute Couture in its collections. Putting technique at the service of creation, she goes beyond the limits of her craft to shape gold as one would work a fabric, weaving it to make it supple and light as a drape. In Halo Delilah, inspired by Jean Cocteau’s creation for an independent, free-spirited woman, the thread disappears to highlight the stone.
GOUTTE DE LUMIÈRE
At once delicate and imposing, both elegant and assertive, both classic and free, the Goutte de Lumière set shines as much for its brilliance as for its spirit. Inspired by Gabrielle Boucheron, this set is an affirmation of the bohemian spirit: an artistic ideal of freedom, playfulness, femininity and self-assertion.
The sautoir is composed of more than 80 rock crystal briolettes, sometimes polished, sometimes frosted, and this brilliance is accentuated by diamond “slices” interspersed randomly to give the impression of a set in motion.
In addition to this deliberately free rhythm in the arrangement of the stones, the beauty of this set lies in the fascinating complexity of the rock crystal drop set off by diamond pavé. Many techniques have been employed to create this frosted effect. The rock crystal drop was split lengthwise into two parts, with the diamonds set inside. The two parts were then set together, and the absence of metal gives the impression that the diamonds are floating in the rock crystal. The drop is faceted, polished and frosted, and the rock crystal magnifies the diamonds at its center.
LES MESSAGERS CÉLESTES
Boucheron is famous for its precious bestiary. Among them, insects are dear to the House’s heart, as Françoise Sagan knew so well when she described them as “messengers” and collected them. These aerial emissaries, companions of the day and the sun, give rise to extraordinary plays of light and transparency in this new collection, both in terms of materials and gradations of color and engraving.These include luminous mixtures of translucent rock crystal and tourmaline sculpted in the shape of gadroons, opals cut in the shape of shuttles, veins engraved in slices of translucent mother-of-pearl, cabochon-shaped heads or faceted stones, and openwork set on mother-of-pearl backgrounds whose gradations of color reflect the hues of the wings. Stones with intense colors or dazzling transparency, such as sapphires, citrines, rhodolites or tsavorites, in turn reproduce the incredible gradations of winged creatures.
FLEUR DU JOUR
Born of Boucheron’s great tradition of multi-wear, the Fleur du Jour necklace is a Point d’Interrogation and much more than a piece of jewelry. It’s a hymn to nature and springtime; it’s an ode to the Belle Otero; it’s a goldsmith’s variation on chiaroscuro, halfway between painting and sculpture.
At the end of a stem paved with round diamonds, a white gold flower unfurls into nine petals paved with snow-set diamonds, all volume and superimposition. In the center, pistils set in diamonds and enhanced by gold threads covered with ultra-fine gold beads reveal an extraordinarily fine openwork design. Beneath it, another is detached to be worn as a brooch, representing the shadow of the first. It is sometimes transparent and pink in sculpted tourmaline, like the morning dew, sometimes opaque and grey in mother-of-pearl, like the evening rise.
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