Fabulous Feats: Boucheron Presents a Quartet of High Jewels for Spring 2026
The new Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection is the latest triumph from Boucheron’s Creative Director, Claire Choisne, who has chosen to pay homage to the Maison’s founder through three necklaces and a pair of cascading shoulder adornments. Together, these pieces intertwine the worlds of haute couture, high jewellery and sentimental storytelling, culminating in pieces that feel both of-the-moment and rooted in a time gone by. Let’s take a closer look at each of the creations, including the historic archival designs that inspired them.
Since 2024, Boucheron has been determinedly treading a path crafted in sophisticated shades of black and white and paved with innovative, outside-the-box materials. The 2024 Histoire de Style The Power of Couture collection was almost exclusively crafted in frosted rock crystal and white diamonds, bringing a starkness to the brand’s offering that set it apart from other Place Vendôme Maisons. Later, in the summer, Claire Choisne unveiled the Or Bleu High Jewellery collection, this time capturing desolate coastlines and rugged, Icelandic landscapes in crystallised black sand, diamonds, rock crystal and obsidian.
Models wear a series of custom-made gowns to complement the latest jewels in the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
Even more recently, Boucheron has stayed committed to a pared-back colour palette, first in the Histoire de Style Untamed Nature collection and then in its successor, the Impermanence High Jewellery collection, filled with borosilicate glass, ceramic, diamonds and titanium. With each new launch, Boucheron has leaned into a striking grey aesthetic in its official imagery. Rather than simply choosing black and white, there are nuances of light and shade in its formal photography that have an artistic feel… something that also plays a role in the advertising for this fresh set of jewels for 2026.
This archival Question Mark necklace with cascading diamonds, dated 1884, was a source of inspiration for Boucheron Creative Director, Claire Choisne, when designing The Spark necklace in the new Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
At Paris Haute Couture Week in January, Boucheron presented its Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection. Although it contains only four pieces, each is steeped in storytelling and historic significance. Together, they tell the story of the Maison’s founder, Frédéric Boucheron, who opened his first boutique in Paris in 1858. He is described as a pioneering man who rarely sought the spotlight, instead choosing to channel his love of nature (in all its imperfection) into hyper-realistic jewels and body adornments.
This archival shoulder ornament with flower motifs and pearls, circa 1880, was the inspiration behind The Silhouette transformable jewel in the new Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
With this new high jewellery collection, I pay homage to Frédéric Boucheron by sketching his portrait through four major pieces, Claire Choisne, Creative Director
Before we dive into the pieces, let me quickly share with you the story behind the four campaign images for the collection. Each piece is modelled by the same woman, photographed from the same angle, but wearing a different dress to perfectly complement the chosen jewel. The clothing choices are said to subtly “conjure the way women dressed in Frédéric Boucheron’s time,” whilst also maintaining a modern, architectural flair. The Maison extracted inspiration from the couture gowns of Charles Frederick Worth, a contemporary of Boucheron, who founded his own atelier in 1858 (the same year Boucheron opened his doors in Paris). For example, The Address necklace is worn alongside a dress with puffy leg-of-mutton sleeves to “concentrate the weight of the silhouette on the upper body,” while the outfit showcasing the The Spark necklace is a skirt with two bodices that can be quickly adapted from day to night. The Silhouette shoulder jewels are worn with a hoop-skirted gown featuring a crinoline – a voluminous undergarment that first appeared in the 1830s – to create an interesting sense of balance and, finally, The Untamed necklace is presented with a bustle dress (invented by Charles Frederick Worth in 1867) that shifts the fullness of the skirt towards the back, giving a long necklace chance to shine.
The first drawing of a Question Mark necklace, now a Boucheron signature, by Paul Legrand, dated 1879
Now that you have the background, let’s start with The Address – a piece that celebrates Frédéric Boucheron’s bravery in moving to Place Vendôme. In the late 19th century, this area was still a quiet residential neighbourhood and couldn’t compete with Rue de la Paix, which was home to all the most prestigious jewellers and couture houses. The Maison explains: “No one had a sense of its potential yet. No one, that is, except Frédéric Boucheron. He noticed that the square was strategically located along the route taken by fashionable ladies on their daily stroll to the Tuileries gardens. While others wandered by without pausing, he realised that this majestic architecture made the ideal backdrop for his jewellery creations.”
This archival necklace with a central pink diamond, dated 1839, was the inspiration behind The Address necklace, which forms part of the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
Boucheron opened a store on Place Vendôme in the Hôtel de Nocé in 1893 and was quickly rewarded for his foresight. Claire Choisne has chosen to celebrate this tenacity with The Address, inspired by an archival necklace set with a central pink diamond from the 1830s. Although the heritage and modern interpretations both have an octagonal central motif, chosen to evoke the shape of Place Vendôme, the new iteration is sharper and more geometric, crafted in white gold, diamonds and black lacquer. The focal point is a Type IIa, 10.01-carat, D-colour, flawless diamond, surrounded by baguette-, round- and emerald-cut diamonds, which sit on an articulated collar that gives the illusion of a single piece. As a final flourish, the central motif can be detached to form a ring.
A model wears The Address necklace from the Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, accompanied by a dress with puffy leg-of-mutton sleeves
A closer look at The Address necklace from the Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, set with a 10.01-carat Type IIa diamond
Next, there’s The Spark necklace, which follows in the footsteps of signature Question Mark designs from the brand’s archives. Frédéric Boucheron was surrounded by women who were physically constrained by corsets, unyielding fabrics and heavy, rigid jewellery that prevented them from moving freely. He challenged these traditions by focusing on jewels that fit the contours of the body, resulting in the first ground-breaking Question Mark necklace in 1879. This clasp-less necklace could be easily slipped around the throat without requiring an extra pair of hands and provided a comfortable wear thanks to many tiny components all linked together for suppleness.
A model wears The Spark Question Mark necklace from the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, complemented with a custom-made black gown
Capturing the moment at Paris Haute Couture Week during the presentation of Boucheron’s new Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
A model wears The Spark Question Mark necklace, part of the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
The Spark Question Mark necklace in the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection is set with eight hero diamonds with geometric cuts, including a 5.01-carat kite-shaped diamond
An archival photograph of a Question Mark necklace from 1884 inspired Claire Choisne to design a modern tribute, complete with a series of diamonds in graphic, geometric cuts. There are eight hero diamonds: a 0.81-carat marquise, followed by a 1.71-carat Asscher cut, a 1.76-carat oval, a 2.09-carat hexagonal, a 2.02-carat pear-cut, a 3.07-carat emerald cut, and a 2.96-carat round brilliant. The composition reaches its crescendo in a 5.01-carat kite diamond encircled by a halo of baguette diamonds, with the remainder of the necklace fully pavé-set in white gold.
For the team here at KaterinaPerez.com, the stars of the show are The Silhouette shoulder jewels, which are directly inspired by similar ornaments from 1880. According to the Maison: “Frédéric Boucheron didn’t view jewellery through the same lens as other jewellers; for him, it was an extension of clothing, another element that made up a person’s style. Being the son of a draper, he grew up surrounded by precious silks and laces, and had a keen sense of the textures, fluidity and drape of fabrics.” Claire Choisne has evolved this obsession with bodily adornment with The Silhouette – a pair of adaptable and transformable swags of diamonds and white gold that flow across the body.
The Silhouette transformable necklace, part of the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, can be worn in multiple ways, including as a shoulder adornment, sautoir necklace, a choker or as a pair of bracelets
The piece can be worn in six different ways: as a combined necklace and double shoulder adornment; as two shoulder brooches with symmetrical lines of bezel set diamonds; as a double drop sautoir necklace (hanging low both at the back and at the front); as two necklaces; as a graphic choker; or as a pair of bracelets to adorn the wrists. Incredibly, there are more than seven metres of bezel-set diamonds here, which amounts to around 2,500 gems, plus two D-colour, internally flawless diamonds totalling 5.16 carats. The choker portion alone has more than 100 baguette-cut diamonds. No wonder this piece required 1,652 hours of craftsmanship!
A model wears The Silhouette, part of the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, alongside a custom-made gown with exaggerated hips to spotlight the piece
Lastly, there is The Untamed necklace, which is a throwback to the Untamed Nature High Jewellery collection launched this time last year. The design is inspired by Frédéric Boucheron’s obsession with nature, especially the more unassuming and often overlooked flora and fauna around him. It is this passion that blossomed into the Maison’s signature, hyper-realistic jewels, with some of the best presenting themselves in the Impermanence High Jewellery collection in July 2025. More specifically, here the focus is on ivy – a nuisance plant that climbs, twists, and grabs hold of buildings in a way that often sees it torn down.
A model at Paris Haute Couture Week showcases The Untamed necklace, crafted with diamonds and rock crystal in white gold, part of the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection
A closer look at The Untamed necklace in the new Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection, which required more than 2,600 hours of craftsmanship
Claire Choisne dreamed of reproducing the very first Question Mark necklace drawn by Paul Legrand for Boucheron in 1879. Her vision was to take its ivy motif and expand it, so that the necklace takes on an extra-long and extra extravagant form. That’s exactly what we can see in The Untamed – a necklace that achieves balance through diamond-set stems, rock crystal accents and diamond leaves, all mounted one-by-one and positioned meticulously to the nearest millimetre. Several elements of the ivy branch are detachable, allowing for a long or short necklace, a collar necklace, a brooch or a hair jewel. In total, more than 2,600 hours were dedicated to bringing this remarkable creation to fruition.
The Untamed necklace in the Boucheron Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection brings climbing ivy to life with diamonds and rock crystal, set in white gold
So, what do you think of the Histoire de Style ‘Nom: Boucheron Prénom: Frédéric’ High Jewellery collection? It is hard to imagine any other Maison having the artistic ambition, creative skills or charisma to pull off such a feat. It is also worth remembering that Claire Choisne has managed to blow us away with just four pieces… quality over quantity will always reign supreme, don’t you think?!
WORDS
Sarah Jordan has specialised in content writing, editing and branded storytelling for a range of businesses, including De Beers Jewellery, Sotheby’s, the Natural Diamond Council and Gem-A. She is also the founder of her own specialist copywriting business, The William Agency.
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