Boucheron

Frederic Boucheron (born 1830- 1902) began his career in the jewellery industry at a young age. At fourteen he was an apprentice to the renowned Parisian jeweller, Jules Chaise. He then became a salesman for the prestigious Palais-Royal jeweller, Tixier Deschamps. When Deschamps retired, the ambitious young Frederic approached his elderly employer with his desire to establish his own shop. Deschamps laughed at the precocious young man (then 20 years old) saying “Mr Frederic is an excellent shop assistant but he is not cut out to be the proprietor of a business.”

Boucheron was not disheartened by this dismissal from such a successful senior figure. Instead he preserved and founded his own namesake shop in 1858. From his earlier experience as apprentice, he championed quality stones and original settings over sheer scale. Frederic Boucheron’s ambition has been realised with his firm supplying the world with exceptional quality gemstones set in innovative designs to this day.

Parisian Couturier 

Boucheron was fortunate in founding his business at a time, and in a city, with a passionate for lavish jewels. Boucheron blossomed during the hey-day of France’s Second Empire. In 1852, four years before Boucheron opened his doors in the Palais Royal, Napoleon III’s lavish coronation wetted the appetites of France’s elite for decadent ornaments. Boucheron succeeded in both anticipating the demands and desires of his clients, as well as creating imaginative new styles and innovating the way they viewed jewellery.

During his lifetime Frederic Boucheron spear-headed a new direction for the Parisian Jewellery industry in both style and operation. In the 1867 Universal Exposition Boucheron premiered and won a gold medal for his revivalist Marie Antoinette and Campana style jewellery. A decade later, at the 1878 World Fair, Boucheron again amazed the jury with his originality for which he was awarded with the Grand Prix.

When the French Crown Jewels were sold in 1887 it was Boucheron that managed to acquire 33 royal pieces: the only french jewellery to do so.

Boucheron’s capacity for innovation continued. In 1893 he was the first jewellery to move to the prestigious Place Vendôme. He chose 26 Place Vendôme as the sunniest corner of the square so the jewels on display would catch the light and sparkle more brilliantly. The Maison still occupies the same address and Boucheron set a new standard that has shaped the development of the jewellery industry: following Boucheron’s success, the Place Vendôme has become the epicentre of Haute jewellers.

Quintessentially French

The Maison Boucheron’s creations exude a quintessentially French style. Frederic Boucheron was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 1900 for his contribution to the industry, and was celebrated as one of the influential forerunners of the Art Nouveu style which swept through Europe and America at the turn of the 20th Century.

Hotel de la Lumiere

The Maison Boucheron continues to have a finger on the pulse of contemporary culture. In 2013, the Maison welcomed the artist, Hiroshi Sugimoto beneath the green marble columns of its Place Vendôme headquarters. Sugimoto’s work complimented Boucheron’s ‘Hotel de la Lumiere’ collection.