Before opening his own jewelry store in 1858, Frédéric Boucheron apprenticed at the fashionable Parisian jewelry house Deschamps, who discouraged Frédéric from entering the jewelry trade. Nonetheless, Boucheron persevered and his eponymous firm has become one of the most well-regarded and preeminent of jewelry houses.
The gemstones he used were carefully selected for color and quality. Even Boucheron’s most accomplished competitors praised the firm’s pieces for their faultless craftsmanship. The jewels were also unusual. The firm thus developed a faithful and growing clientele including the firm Tiffany & Co. In 1867, Boucheron won a grand prize for jewelry at Paris’s International Exposition for pieces in the archaeological revival and Louis XVI styles.
Frédéric died in 1902, leaving the firm to his son Louis. Nine years earlier, in 1893, Boucheron had taken up residence at 26 Place Vendôme, Paris. By the turn of the century, the firm had enough name recognition, and capital, to open branch stores in London and New York. In the early 1930s, the firm expanded its presence to the Middle East and South America. As the twentieth century dawned, the firm stayed at the cutting edge of fashion. It produced exquisite Art Nouveau, Edwardian, and Art Deco pieces. During the 1930s and ’40s, Boucheron popularized detachable dress clips and like other firms during the Retro period, its designers made ample use of three-dimensional motifs, flexible chains, and tassels.
To this day, the firm’s designs often feature design motifs from their past including carved multicolor gemstones, geometric lines, tassels, and mesh elements mesh in combination with more modern design components continuing their reputation for impeccable quality and design. Today Boucheron is owned by the French luxury group Kering.