Successive lockdowns have darkened horizons and muted momentums of optimism and lightness. Facing her mood boards, Claire Choisne looks for an answer to these paralyzing troubles. She throws out the idea of a wild project: a free High Jewelry, released from any constraints. Out with size, shape, and materials restrictions and out with conventions. In with joy.
Pop colors, extravagant volumes, basic silhouettes, simple. In the effervescence of 26 Place Vendôme, the studio of Boucheron is elated by the impulse of their Creative Director.
Like the pages of a teenage diary, the mood boards are filled with pop colors, joyful looks, geometric designs and motifs. Spheres, cubes, flat. Cheeky mixes, XXL smiles, life in Technicolor: memories appear on the surface, as the outlines of a new High Jewelry emerge. Drawing its energy from the influence of pop art, the soft rebellion of the Memphis artists and the illusion of perspectives liberated from any rule. Transforming reality into a world that rewrites joy.
A gigantic bow in the hair, defying the laws of gravity? Excessive necklaces, covering the whole chest? Jewels that move within two dimensions, springing from their box like mischievous sketches suddenly appearing from paper… And why not?
Everything is possible… with new materials and with the technical innovations of a studio perpetually dedicated to creativity, to the search for the perfect shape and the most rigorous setting of gemstones. Especially when it is all about glorifying enthusiasm, joy, and emotion. What is precious if it is not about these core values, which make the world go round… And that Maison Boucheron has continuously celebrated for 165 years.
The exceptional pieces of the “More is More” collection are true jewels of technicality, experimentation, machining. They are an ode to boldness as much as High Jewelry, through the assembling of materials, stones, diamonds, and colors.
By pushing the boundaries of High Jewelry, with the greatest respect to its values, and by questioning the meaning of precious, these creations take us far away. Where innocence welcomes beauty without any constraints, where enchantment dwells, where sophistication looks easy and the world exhilarating.
TIE THE KNOT
The wild dream
A gigantic bow in the hair: red on one side, black and white stripes – mimicking the “gros grain” code of Boucheron – on the other. Supple like cloth, light as a cartoon that would suddenly appear in real life.
Ultra-light ambition
Set with diamonds and white gold, Tie the Knot magnifies High Jewelry by deploying its 29cm of pure poetry. Like a trompe l’oeil, floating mischievously on the side of the head, weighing only 94 grams: a prowess, that makes us forget its technical complexity. A fantasy comes true.
A technical challenge
● The red part of the bow is made with bio acetate, a favorite of eyeglass manufacturers: it is weightless and offers this shade – as close as it gets to the color of an iconic soda. Bio acetate is made from wood paste and cotton fibers, mixing lightness and sustainability, thanks to producing methods respectful of the environment.
● An exclusive in the world of High Jewelry, magnesium as a metal completes this technical prowess, on the back of the piece. Magnesium is 30% as light as aluminum and its density is ten times as light as gold. This new material required our craftsmen’s agility and for them to exceed their abilities. The delicate strips of this fantasy bow were first shaped, then dyed black by a cataphoresis treatment, before being set. A challenge when applied to this material, on which it would be impossible to resolder a claw, should it break during the setting process.
● The 200 parts necessary to the creation of this jewel were all carefully worked separately, then assembled, ensuring the final piece’s resilience as well as an aerial flexibility. The borders were dyed black, like a felt pen underlining the outlines of the reliefs to trick the eye.
Brooch paved with diamonds, in red bio-acetate and magnesium.
Brooch made in the tradition of multi-wear pieces.
THIS IS NOT A RING / THIS IS NOT A SCRUNCHIE
The wild dream
Jewels become objets d’art – with simple shapes, bright colors and revisited perspectives. Spheres, cubes, graphic stripes: pop and geometric pieces, that would have escaped from a 70s art gallery.
The tricking of images
This is not a ring. This is not a scrunchie. It is actually both, and so much more: a work of art. Surrealism emerges from these tiny pieces, made with a huge mastery of craftsmanship. Moving lines, letting their joy spread on the fingers or in the hair: modern art and High Jewelry interacting, blending, and having fun.
A technical challenge
● 6 rings, graphic and light. 4 of which have extraordinary volumes, with a quirky and provocative balance. A geometric scrunchie defying the laws of High Jewelry.
● Black, white, red, or blue lacquer fills these aerial rings. On these rings, a yellow diamond and sapphire sphere lies delicately, along with a rock crystal and white gold cube, outlined by titanium and resin.
● On another ring, the Italian glass of Murano – made on this island by artisans – shines through a hypnotic blue. It is engraved with the most extreme precision, making that piece the most precious cube.
● A two-finger resin ring displays a majestic rock crystal sphere, taking center stage. This sphere is carved, its linings made of yellow diamonds and its heart filled with yellow sapphires. At its side, a black titanium and diamond cube completes the geometric harmony of this jewel, which is both technically and visually exceptional.
IN THE POCKET + AN APPLE A DAY
The wild dream
A neo-parure. Nonchalance feigned by a hand slipped into a High Jewelry pocket, adaptable to be worn on any garment. The final touch to this picture is a bracelet, shaped as a perfect sphere.
High Jewelry is stylish
Who said that a parure should be composed of a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet? In the Pocket makes light of conventions. It creates an attitude and a succession of emotions, drawn from the discovery of the richness of its pieces – enhanced by the preciousness of their nonconformism.
A technical challenge
● Slipping one’s adorned hand in a precious pocket and giving metal the suppleness of cloth: this may have been one of the greatest challenges posed to the ateliers.
The 3D printed titanium elements of this precious pocket are mounted on stretch fabric. From the back of the wearer’s garment, a magnet fits the structure: secretly fixing this incredible jewel, which delicately blends with the cloth.
● Multiwear, which is dear to Maison Boucheron, is celebrated here through a tsavorite and black lacquer sphere. A true objet d’art, turning into a cuff bracelet and two rings when the sphere is dismantled: making it a spectacular four-in-one creation, celebrating savoir-faire and creativity.
● Titanium was chosen to constitute the structure of the sphere: it was anodized to ensure the most precise color treatment.
Clothing jewel set with onyx, paved with diamonds, and decorated with lacquer, in titanium and white gold.
Bracelet paved with tsavorites, and decorated with lacquer, in titanium and white gold.
Bracelet in the tradition of multi-wear.
PULL ME
The wild dream
Who said hoodie strings could not be appropriate in High Jewelry? Why don’t we invent new codes for the precious? Here is a way to invest the most contemporary looks, from the most daily life, inspired by the design of the now iconic Jack.
Le street chic
Daring High Jewelry, radiating on a hoodie; leaving hushed salons and great parties to be displayed on a redefined masculinity. Bursting into the light, drawing attention. Displaying, in this manner, its sensational preciousness.
A technical challenge
● A 40 cm long jewel, to be fixed – like a brooch – on the base of the hood.
● A multiwear piece: strings become long earrings, or stud earrings entirely paved with diamonds. Duos can have fun sharing this playful piece, wearing it like a bonded manifesto. While one can wear it alone however they want, on any occasion.
● Citrine, diamonds, black lacquer, onyx, white opal, yellow gold, titanium, aluminum: a whole palette of technical and precious materials. Put together, they allow the blooming of this jewelry oddity.
Clothing jewels set with citrines, onyx, and cacholongs, paved with diamonds, and decorated with lacquer, in white gold, yellow gold and titanium.
Earrings version, in the tradition of multiwear.
JUST AN ILLUSION
The wild dream
A prodigious linked necklace, covering the whole chest. Like a comic book element overlaying reality. Imposing its quirky, cartoonish esthetics through a light, flat High Jewelry piece: a true trompe-l’oeil.
The charm of an illusion
Orange and blue: these opposing colors share the same space on this oversized neo-necklace. It is extravagant and mischievous, stretching beauty like it stretches scales.
A technical challenge
● The base of the piece, in titanium, makes this necklace much lighter than one would expect.
● The colors are made of blue, white, and black Hyceram: these colors were applied by laser, so as to rub out any separation between them, resulting in a “seamless” aspect.
These huge chain links look convex, although they are flat, and are striped on their back.
● The orange chain links are paved with mandarin garnets, set with round diamonds, and thinly lined by black lacquer. They overlook a row of what gives the illusion of baguette diamonds – shaped in rock crystal.
Necklace paved with diamonds, spessartite mandarin garnets, set with rock crystal, and decorated with hyceram, in titanium and white gold.
PEARL SOAP BUBBLE
The wild dream
Extra flat pearls with dizzying dimensions, their brightness radiating from the necklace. A two-finger ring, sweeping aside all we thought we knew about pearls.
Grand nature
Giant pearls displayed on a pullover, a chest, or a hand like soap bubbles. The eye sees them as joyful spheres – when, mischievous and precious, they truly lie in two dimensions.
Paying the most modern homage to a Boucheron archive necklace, initially made in fine pearls and diamonds.
A technical challenge.
● The diameter of these spectacular pearls is 5.5 cm, shaped with the finest precision, to recreate a fantastic reality – where nature would play with proportions.
● A mother of pearl powder applied on an aluminum base; shades then added in digital printing to recreate the visual aspect of pearls born in nature.
● A “sapphire glass” (usually used for watch faces only) laid on a white gold base, by a Swiss watch face artisan. Giving a slightly convex aspect both on the face and on the back of every pearl of the necklace and of the ring. Accentuating the illusion of XXL pearls.
● Between every pearl, a diamond chain link perfects the homage to the pearl necklace created by Frederic Boucheron.
Necklace paved with diamonds, set with mother-of-pearl, and adorned with sapphire glass, in aluminum, and white gold.
Ring paved with diamonds, set with mother-of-pearl, and adorned with sapphire glass, in aluminum and white gold
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
The wild dream:
Reinventing the Boucheron Icons. The Question Mark necklace, born in 1879, revolutionary by being clasp-free and the symbol of a liberation. The Parfum ring, with its blue sapphire cabochon, embodying the dialogue between fragrance and High Jewelry.
A new chapter
Maison Boucheron is rich with the heritage that has made its reputation and continues to write new chapters of its icons’ history. In this chapter, two of the most legendary Boucheron pieces prove how timeless they are, by blending technique and precious, joy and boldness.
A technical challenge
● The stakes on this necklace were to recreate the volume of one particular Question Mark necklace from the Boucheron archives, which displays an emblematic flower.
● Here, a particularly rare 5.28 carat cushion tanzanite joins diamonds and white gold. Lacquer reproduces the original flower motif in blue, black and white, giving the illusion of volume on this necklace – which, contrary to the original one from the archives, is completely flat.
● The Parfum ring displays an incredible elongated tanzanite, with a perfect rounded shape: this unique 33.15 carat cabochon overlooks a ring made of diamonds, rock crystal and white gold.
Necklace set with a 5.28 ct tanzanite, paved with diamonds, and decorated with lacquer, in white gold.
Ring set with a 33,15 ct tanzanite and rock crystal, paved with diamonds, in white gold.
SOLVE ME
The wild dream
Deconstructing the 80s most famous puzzle to turn it into a High Jewelry piece. Playfulness and esthetics coming together, bringing back memories of the fabulous geometry of this iconic object.
A puzzle around the neck
Shimmery cubes, all different, replace the curvy lines of a classic necklace, calling in the fun and the happiness of childhood.
A technical challenge
● A necklace made of cubes of different materials and colors. A necklace that is light and supple, contrary to its architecture and apparent rigidity.
● Materials, colors, and esthetics are what form the pattern of this necklace: like a deconstructed toy of 21 precious cubes, alternating grey and pink spinels, pink sapphires, and diamonds.
● Like the cubes of the original puzzle, every facet of Solve Me has a different color. Creating this unique piece, which arouses unprecedented emotions, was a wonderful challenge both technically and artistically.
Necklace paved with diamonds, grey spinels, pink sapphires, and set with mother-of-pearl, in aluminum and white gold.
DO NOT IRON!
The wild dream
Recreating high school years iron-on badges. The ones we would place on our favorite jackets. The ones we would carefully choose for their shape, their colors, the story they told. So as to create our own style and express our singularity; to play with fashion, and a sense of beauty.
Recreating the thinness of these iron-on badges… With precious stones.
Precious badges
As fun as iron-on badges and as precious as High Jewelry brooches: two mini-collections sum up the joyfulness of “More is More”.
For the opening of the Boucheron Ginza boutique – the largest in the world after Vendôme – a capsule collection depicts the Hokusai wave, Wladimir the Cat, and a Hydrangea. It is a declaration of the Maison’s love for Japan.
The second mini collection depicts three other of the Maison’s icons: Jack, the Cicada and the Pansy.
A technical challenge
● Making fun jewels out of the traditional model of a brooch. A flower, looking like it was embroidered with precious stones – and with extreme precision. Recreating up to the twisting thread perceived from up close on real iron-on badges.
● A Jack, a Pansy, a Cicada as technical wonders.
● For the Pansy, the imprint of real petals recreated on a gold structure, showing their natural veins. The openwork base then covered with mother of pearl, rhodolite, pink quartz, amethyst and at its heart, yellow sapphires.
● The stones and materials composing the Cicada look aerial, supple, and delicate: giving the illusion they are made of thin felt. The chrysoprases were selected for the perfect color they bring to the spreading wings – lined with yellow sapphires, diamonds, and black lacquer. A 2.14 carat tourmaline at the heart of this jewel gracefully tops this depiction of a magnified nature.
I GOT YOUR BACK
The wild dream
An elegant, graphic scrunchie, gathering the patterns and the codes of this collection. A piece that is precious on the outside and contains as much richness on the inside.
The discreet charm of preciousness
Imagine an encounter: a smile on their face. Then they leave and you get the vision of I got your back. Displaying a piece of contrasts and its radiant beauty. Like a fragrance would follow the person who wears it, it is transient and magical.
A technical challenge
● Black and white lines punctuating the cylinder like a maze, playing on the optical illusion by blending parallels and perspectives. The contrast between bright red and turquoise blue.
● An equal work on the visible parts and on the invisible parts of the piece: the signature of High Jewelry.
● Black, blue, and red lacquer punctuated by diamonds, white gold covering bio acetate and magnesium. So, this aerial hair jewel makes its owner forget their status, while still offering the lavishness of its materials to the eye of observers.
Hair jewel paved with diamonds, and decorated with lacquer, in white gold.
PUISSANCE QUATRE
The wild dream
XXL pop Quatre cuffs, shining with the iconic designs of the Maison: gros-grain, clou de Paris, diamond line and double-gadroon.
Braving weightlessness
Legacy and boldness blending on the wrists, in the most obvious manner. The Maison’s Quatre icon singing an ode to joy, enhanced by technical performances from which only freedom is to be seen as a result.
A technical challenge
· On the first row, aluminum replaces gold – being 8 times as light. The black and white gros-grain is hand lacquered, both on the outside and on the inside of the jewel.
· On the second row, 134 diamonds are set on aluminum: a prowess which required every piece to be made in triplicate – should any claw break during the setting process, the design would have needed to be started again from scratch.
This is why setting stones on aluminum is a technique which is rarely used.
· On the third row, red, blue, and green lacquer replace the Clou de Paris motif.
· Two of these cuffs display a last row made of a resin and aluminum double-gadroon motif. On the third cuff, this last row is made of aluminum and set with a total of 200 diamonds.
Cuff paved with diamonds, in aluminum, with red and blue colored resin and black and white lacquer
Cuff paved with diamonds, in aluminum, with blue and yellow colored resin and black and white lacquer
Cuff paved with diamonds, in aluminum, with green colored resin and black and white lacquer
HIT THE ROAD JACK
The wild dream
Offering the Jack icon a colorful expression, as precious as the joy radiating from these singular and bold pieces.
The unapologetic jewelry
Diamonds, white gold, intricate setting: on these joyful pieces, techniques and precious materials come together in harmony. Getting the party started on a tuxedo collar, breaking the rules on an evening gown, dressing up and shaking up genders and conventions.
A technical challenge
· Ten times as light as gold, magnesium is at the heart of these 3 brooches’ design.
· On the magnesium cones, black lacquer alternates with diamond lines, their sizes perfectly selected to create a subtle play of light and scales.
· Resin-colored cones displaying their modernity with extreme delicacy.
· This complex and exhilarating result was made possible through the joint work of different craftsmen – each one bringing the excellence of their specialty – becoming partners at the service of beauty.
Brooch paved with diamonds, in white gold and magnesium, with red and blue colored resin and black lacquer
Brooch paved with diamonds, in white gold and magnesium, with blue and yellow colored resin and black lacquer
Brooch, paved with diamonds, in white gold and magnesium, with green colored resin and black lacquer
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