The 1920s, the mysterious ancient country of India, the princes and nobles, the rare treasures... When you see these keywords, what kind of picture comes to mind?
Is it an image of extravagance?
In fact, the reality is more than you think.
In 1928, Maharaja Pattyara of India arrived in Paris with 40 retinues, accompanied by an iron safe containing thousands of precious stones.
He was tall, about 6 feet 7 inches tall, and he was known for his extreme obsession with jewelry. For his visit to Paris, no one knows which jewelry store he will go to. That summer, escorted by Sikh guards, Maharaja Pattyara of India crossed the Vendôme Square with an iron safe, pushed open Boucheron's door, spread out rubies, emeralds, diamonds and pearls densely in front of Louis, the son of the brand's founder Frédéric Boucheron, and signed a huge jewelry order with great interest.
This is the largest jewelry order ever made in Place Vendôme.
Not long after Boucheron's current creative director, Claire Choisne, arrived at the brand and, while exploring the archives, stumbled upon a 149-page original jewelry manuscript designed by Louis Boucheron for Maharaja Pattiala.
Thus, the legendary story, along with the works made of 7,571 diamonds and 1,432 emeralds, left a deep impression on her mind: "For Boucheron, the commission of Maharaja Pattyara was like a romantic fairy tale, and the fine jewelry created by it was fascinating."
Each year, Choisne brings Boucheron two fine jewelry collections: "Histoire de Style" in January and "Carte Blanche" in July. A tribute to the past, a free innovation.
While conceiving for the series in January, Choisne decided to "return" to India with a new interpretation called "New Maharajahs.". However, instead of restoring the grandeur of that time, she did the opposite, presenting a collection of fine jewelry that truly belongs to the present.
"People always think that time is divided, with the past on one side and the future on the other, but for me, time is a flowing river, no matter what node it is in, it is integrated. Just as the work of Frédéric and Louis was avant-garde in their time, I also wanted my work to be presented in the present, even if it is based on past traditions. Choisne described his intentions this way.
Emerald gemstones, once densely packed throughout the 149 pieces, appear in only one set of works in the new collection.
Not only that, Choisne also reversed the ratio of emeralds to diamonds, and on the pendant in the center of the necklace, nine Colombian emerald gemstones shone with a flexible luster, and the diamonds around the body were covered with crystals, with a more regurgitated luster in the transparency.
All other jewelry is a single hue made up of diamonds, white gold, crystal, pearls, mother-of-pearls, opals, which is extremely rare in fine jewelry.
Although the tone is uniform, it is by no means monotonous, and the color and texture of various gemstones are intertwined, and the clarity of diamonds, the clarity of crystals, and the warmth of pearls superimpose the meaning of rich dimensions.
The rare Glyptique carving technique is infused with exquisite details into the collection, a traditional technique that is mostly used for precious stones such as emeralds, but Choisne chose crystal as a base, because in her opinion, "when there is no color barrier, light can travel freely through the gemstone, you can see the pattern more clearly, but in an intriguing way"
Not only that, Choisne also mentioned that Boucheron's founder Frédéric Boucheron was the first jeweler to use crystal and diamond in fine jewelry.
This was a sensation because crystal is not a precious gemstone. However, boldness and courage often lead to innovation, "which is both a very Boucheron approach and a personal preference for a more pure, minimalist, refreshing design, away from high profiles and ostentation." ”
In addition to materials and craftsmanship, Choisne further broadens the boundaries of fine jewelry in terms of wearing style.
In today's context, chinese jewelry reveals women's preferences and privileges; however, when looking back, whether it is the medieval courts in Europe or the royal palaces in India, jewelry is more closely related to men as a symbol of wealth, power and status.
She wanted to break that tradition, to break the shackles of gender, to break all restrictions.
Claire Choisne, Creative Director at Boucheron
Photographed by Adrien Dirand
"If you wear it only once and put it on the shelf, then the jewelry loses its vitality, which is extremely sad for me." I want to give the work more possibilities. When designing, we not only sketch, but also use computer technology to simulate how it works in different genders and in groups. We try to think a little further, hoping that jewelry will highlight as much as possible what makes each person as unique. ”
In this collection, almost every piece can be disassembled into different functions and looks to suit a variety of occasions and groups of people. For example, long necklaces can be transformed into brooches and bracelets; square rings with pear-shaped crystals at both ends can be easily disassembled into separate diamond rings; a pearl tassel necklace decorated with lotus flowers can even display seven different shapes, even if the main pendant is used as a decoration on men's suits.
The word innovation has always been a label for Choisne, who has introduced sand and marble, materials that sound like fine jewelry, into her work.
Released in July 2020, she even used a high-tech material, Aerogel Aerogel, a substance used by NASA to collect stardust, because the density is extremely low, and 99.8% is air, so it can fully show the changes in the sky and clouds after being refracted by light.
The aerogel is infused into the crystal by Choisne as the center stone of a necklace. It does sound unfathomable enough, but she says she doesn't innovate for the sake of innovation, she uses high-tech materials; materials and processes serve design, and design is meant to convey emotions and dreams. "When working with a century-old jewelry house like Boucheron, it is even more important to be able to be creative and try to give emotion to objects in the face of all kinds of exquisite craftsmanship, in the face of all kinds of rare materials."
Choisne uses aerogel to achieve instant freezes of sky and time. "I want to pick up a piece of the sky for the wearer, which is gently embraced around the neck in the form of a necklace. For me, such a piece of sky is incomparably precious because it carries beautiful fantasies. "Injecting the vagaries of the sky and the never-ending time into the jewelry, sealing their most vivid appearances, is the romantic feeling she has given to fine jewelry, stemming from the rich and soft inner world of female jewelry designers."
From ancient times to the present, a small gemstone can always reveal infinite information about identity and status; at the same time, it is also a part of the body, with the rhythm of breathing and heartbeat, perceiving the ups and downs of emotions. Today, Choisne's Journey to Boucheron is in its second decade. She is familiar with it and knows how to go light. "At first, I didn't know if people could accept my style. Over the past ten years, I have gradually gained recognition, and now I am sure that I can move forward more fearlessly. What used to be an intuition has evolved into a dynamic. For the next decade, I don't want to be in my comfort zone, I don't want to be sleepy. I want to continue to explore, continue to innovate, continue to convey emotions through creation. ”
Edit: KL
Fine Arts: Roland