BOUCHERON
Founded in Paris in 1858, when Frédéric Boucheron opened his first boutique in the Galerie de Valois at the Palais-Royal, the house became the first jeweller on Place Vendôme — at number 26 in 1893, still its address today. Owned by Kering since 2004, with Claire Choisne leading creation since 2011, Boucheron pairs a heritage language of movement born with the Plume de Paon of 1866 with modern signatures like the Quatre of 2005.
The jeweller who chose the square
Frederic Boucheron founded his house in 1858, opening in the Galerie de Valois at the Palais-Royal. Thirty-five years later he made the decision the house is still known for: in 1893 he became the first jeweller to settle on Place Vendome, at number 26. Every other great Paris jeweller followed him there. The address has not changed since.
The choice of number 26 is usually told as a story about light — the sunniest corner of the square, where diamonds would show best. Whether or not that was the reasoning, it established a pattern the house has kept: the technical decision and the aesthetic decision are the same decision.
A language of movement
Plume de Paon, created in 1866, is the earliest expression of it: a peacock feather rendered so that it trembles with the wearer rather than sitting rigid. The serpent line of the 1970s, Trouble and Quatre in 2005, and the Cabinet of Curiosities of 2011 all extend the same idea in different registers.
Quatre is the piece most people meet first: four contrasting bands — different golds, different textures — stacked into a single ring. It works because it refuses to choose, which is a very Boucheron answer.
The Carte Blanche era
Boucheron has belonged to Kering since PPR acquired it in 2004. Claire Choisne has been creative director since 2011, and Helene Poulit-Duquesne chief executive since 2015.
Choisne’s Carte Blanche collections are where the house takes its risks: annual high-jewellery sets built around a concept rather than a stone, using materials no Place Vendome house would traditionally touch. It is the clearest argument that a 19th-century maison can still be experimental.