Boucheron is a jewelry company under the French Kering Group. In 1858, at the age of 28, designer Boucheron established his own brand and opened a boutique in the most fashionable royal palace district of Paris. He designed numerous precious jewelry pieces, watches, and perfumes.
Today, Boucheron has become an international brand with boutiques in Europe, Russia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. On January 25, 2018, Boucheron held a grand opening ceremony to celebrate the inauguration of its first boutique in mainland China at Shanghai’s Plaza 66, marking a new chapter for the brand.
Boucheron is one of the few jewelers in the world that has consistently maintained the exquisite craftsmanship and traditional style of high jewelry and watches.
Brand Culture
Through the language of jewelry, Boucheron conveys a message from Paris to China – communicating the brand’s exquisite craftsmanship, helping China understand Boucheron’s pursuit of perfection, and introducing China to a genuine high-end jewelry leader.
Luxury goods have been cherished by people throughout history.
London’s Lobb men’s shoe store has existed since the Victorian era. Its founder, John Lobb, was the shoemaker for Edward, Prince of Wales at the time, and to this day, royal family members still patronize the store. The French top luxury brand Louis Vuitton is over 150 years old, while another top luxury brand, Gucci, is more than 80 years old.
In Europe, a long history and “adherence to tradition” are considered important characteristics of luxury goods.
From being exclusive to emperors and nobles in the past to being occasionally accessible to ordinary people today, the global luxury goods market now has an annual transaction value of approximately $68 billion. It is said that for a time, almost every Japanese woman owned a Louis Vuitton handbag.
Just as Paris is known for its romance, Shanghai has established its reputation as a showcase for the new generation of millionaires. The spending on luxury goods like Gucci by the yuppies (referring to the new elite with certain professional knowledge and bank assets reaching seven figures) residing in this city is predictable.
China’s booming economic growth has created a new wealthy class with high purchasing power. The French Gucci Group’s Boucheron jewelry company has set its sights on this huge “cake” in China. After several visits to China, President Jean Christophe Bedos finally announced Boucheron’s entry into the Chinese market, opening its first boutique at the famous No. 18 on the Bund in Shanghai.
This article effectively introduces Boucheron’s rich history, global expansion, and recent entry into the Chinese market. It highlights the brand’s commitment to traditional craftsmanship and its strategic move to tap into the growing luxury market in China.
Forging a Brand
For nearly 150 years, Boucheron has designed numerous precious jewelry pieces, watches, and perfumes, establishing itself as a brand with a long history that embodies the authentic Parisian spirit.
In 1858, Boucheron founded his own brand and opened a boutique in the most fashionable royal palace district of Paris. The store was decorated with crystal chandeliers and velvet fabrics, exuding elegance and grandeur, attracting celebrities and nobles. After four generations of succession, the Boucheron family continued to flourish, becoming an internationally renowned high-end jewelry brand. In 1893, Boucheron became the first jewelry brand to open a store in Place Vendôme, Paris’s fashion mecca.
Looking back on the brand’s history, Boucheron earned the title of jewelry master with its outstanding products that were marketed worldwide. At the legendary 1900 World’s Fair, Boucheron made a stunning debut. That year, apart from the completion of the Eiffel Tower, it also marked the beginning of the Art Nouveau style.
At the exhibition, Boucheron received the following praise: “A daring champion with outstanding achievements, always dazzling and awe-inspiring, the entire jewelry industry should be proud of it.” In the 1970s, Boucheron opened branches across Europe, further consolidating the brand’s position. Always valuing jewelry culture and history, Boucheron was also the only French jeweler to purchase French royal jewelry in the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Boucheron not only adhered to the brand’s unique traditional connotations but also became synonymous with bold and luxurious modern jewelry.
Creating Classics
Since its inception, Boucheron has been renowned for its innovative techniques and artistic content: the first to create diamond-set pieces, the first to produce wristwatches, and a proponent of nature-themed designs – dragonflies, butterflies, birds, snakes, beetles – exemplars of the Art Nouveau style.
In the early days of the brand, Boucheron introduced several exceptional handcrafted watches. Combining luxurious precious materials with professional technical performance, Boucheron’s timepieces have always been sought after by collectors. In 1947, Boucheron obtained a patent for an interchangeable watch strap system.
To this day, this innovative invention remains unique to the brand and is featured on the “Reflet” series of watches launched in 1948, continuing unchanged for decades. Boucheron introduced the elegant and masculine “Mec” watch, which, with its rounded shape in stainless steel or pink gold and extremely precise automatic winding movement, once again made Boucheron a spokesperson for contemporary timepieces.
At the turn of the millennium, Boucheron focused on creating products that were bold, outstanding, sexy, and incorporated the brand’s most famous classic themes. In the alluring “Dangerous Beauty” series, natural decorations from the 1950s were reborn with a new look. This collection of 60 exquisite jewelry pieces exclusively used four gemstones: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.
In 2004, Boucheron launched the Jaipur series, inspired by the brand’s connection with India. The way various high-quality colored gemstones were set with diamonds evoked the innovative fashion that the brand led in the 1950s. To give the new design a symbolic emblem, Boucheron created an enchanting snake pattern. It coiled around bracelets, necklaces, and rings set with countless colorful gemstones, exuding a truly dangerous beauty.
Notable Figures and Nobility
The history of Boucheron is intricately linked with royal families and nobility worldwide, while also telling the stories of Hollywood celebrities, business tycoons, and political figures.
During the Belle Époque in Paris, privileged women gave Boucheron its concept of fashion, showcasing its exquisite designs on their wrists, arms, hairlines, and necks, and even embedding them in their clothing. La Belle Otéro, a famous dancer of the time, once commissioned Boucheron to create a corset entirely adorned with gemstones, causing a sensation.
Boucheron demonstrated a global vision for development, opening a branch in Moscow as early as 1897 and establishing a store on London’s famous Bond Street in 1903. In 1925, the Maharaja of Patiala commissioned Boucheron to design jewelry from his personal royal treasures – six chests of precious gems and pearls – marking the official beginning of Boucheron’s Eastern strategy.
In 1930, King Reza of Iran entrusted Boucheron with appraising the entire Persian kingdom’s wealth. The kings and queens of England, the king of Bulgaria, the king of Egypt, and the Prince of Wales all commissioned Boucheron to design royal jewelry and accessories. The Boucheron tiara owned by the British royal family since 1921 has been a favorite of the Queen of England.
Today, the world’s most beautiful and accomplished women vie to wear Boucheron jewelry. The Queen of Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Susan Sarandon have all worn stunning Boucheron pieces at the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Cannes Film Festival.
As stated in the book “Paris, People More Mysterious Than Perfume” – “The French, regardless of their social class, have a complex, strange, and indescribable feeling towards the enjoyment of luxury goods.”
China has gradually become an emerging market for modern luxury goods. In Shanghai, there are approximately one million high-income individuals earning over 100,000 RMB per month, forming the primary consumer group for luxury items. Gucci sunglasses, Prada handbags, and Louis Vuitton luggage have almost become necessities for hundreds of thousands of Shanghai’s middle-class consumers, and owning these items no longer requires one to be “wealthy.”
The Economist magazine commented, “A new type of luxury consumer group is growing worldwide. They may have average assets but will indulge in luxury goods. They might spend $500 on a Gucci handbag, but also only $10 on an accessory from an ordinary clothing chain store.”
Indeed, Boucheron perfectly represents the Chinese middle class, especially those ambitious income groups who have a strong desire for beautiful things and hope to position themselves through Western luxury brands during their journey.
“Eight is a lucky number in China, and our company was founded in 1858, which has two 8s, so we are bound to succeed in the Chinese market,” said Boucheron President Bedos, full of confidence despite just taking the first step into the Chinese market.
Through the language of jewelry, Boucheron conveys a message from Paris to China – communicating the brand’s exquisite craftsmanship, helping China understand Boucheron’s pursuit of perfection, and introducing China to a genuine high-end jewelry leader.
Products
Carte Blanche, More is More
After two years of silence, Boucheron embarked on a creative journey with its innovative design style. Focusing on the present moment, the brand sought to create designs that soothe the soul. This is the revolutionary creativity behind the new Carte Blanche, More is More high jewelry collection.
Claire Choisne, Boucheron’s Creative Director, proposed a bold concept: to use diverse geometric shapes and design patterns, or employ simple and bright spheres or cube designs. The collection features bright colors to create stark contrasts, exaggerated proportions, and transformed realities, cleverly playing with visual effects and new materials while reinterpreting classic high jewelry pieces.
The Carte Blanche, More is More high jewelry collection reinvents joy in a free and wonderful world. It celebrates happy moments, proving that even in the careful high jewelry industry, one can enjoy fun times while pursuing perfection. These pieces break the traditional boundaries of high jewelry, fully conveying the core values inherent in fine jewelry. They embody Boucheron’s high jewelry design philosophy: innovative artistry.
Carte Blanche Ailleurs Collection
Creative Director Claire Choisne presents the new high jewelry collection through five secret realms, embarking on a journey of exploration. Entering these hidden places, everything remains in its most primitive and natural state: all things are full of infinite possibilities, exuding an atmosphere of unbridled freedom.
From vast deserts to boundless oceans, from winding mountains to lush rainforests… The Maison’s workshop breaks conventions by boldly combining seemingly incompatible elements and materials. Brilliant diamonds are paired with smooth pebbles and treated oak, while gold interplays with natural rattan and cosmic meteorites.
Everything in these secret realms showcases the free beauty and endless poetry of marvelous nature. Claire Choisne presents the new Carte Blanche, Ailleurs high jewelry collection through five distinctly different secret realms, where anyone can find their own space. This is precisely the original intention behind creating this new high jewelry collection.
Holographique
“Light has always fascinated me. We can’t live without light, yet we can’t understand what it really is. Is light a movement? Is it snow-white or colorful? Through the Holographique collection, I tried to redefine holographic light and shadow in Boucheron’s unique way, infusing it with color to express its essence.
Each piece, like a prism, presents all the colors that make up light, thus reflecting its complex nature. Each piece reveals the world’s colors in a new way.”
Boucheron was founded in 1858 by Frédéric Boucheron and has been innovating through four generations. In 1893, Frédéric Boucheron became the first contemporary outstanding jeweler to open a boutique in Place Vendôme, and his highly creative designs established the brand’s leading position in high jewelry and watchmaking. Boucheron’s style is free and innovative, continuously creating future classics.
Boucheron: An Enduring Legacy Spanning Four Centuries of Exquisite Jewelry
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