Boucheron Launches New Maharajahs High Jewelry Collection – WWD

PARIS – Picture it: It’s 1928 and Place Vendôme is awash with rumors of a prince arriving with 40 servants, booking 35 suites at the Ritz, and possessing a lust for jewelry as great as his fortune.

Bhupindar Singh, Maharaja of Patiala, and his entourage of Sikh guards entered with six iron chests. Boucheron shop – and its history. “His order is the stuff of legend. Imagine this colossal statue of a man pushing the door into the house,” said creative director Claire Choisne at a preview.

To take advantage of the thousands of gems and pearls he had inventory, Louis Boucheron, son of founder Frédéric, drew 149 sketches, which were the basis for Choisne’s 14 latest works. high end jewelry collection, titled “Histoire de Style, New Maharajahs.”

Seeking to reinterpret these designs for today, Choisne said she wanted to turn what she saw in the archives in terms of scale and color, while focusing on the original shape and technique of the nest. Indian fairy, especially the gems carved with lines.

“Starting from scratch is easy because everything is contemporary – ideas, techniques, everything. Starting with a centuries-old aesthetic and creating something of our time is where it gets complicated,” says Choisne.

At the heart of all these designs is the idea of ​​repeated wear. For women as well as men, says Choisne, who demonstrated how certain textures can be worn in place of a tie.

The New Maharajah Platinum Necklace is crafted around nine Colombian emeralds – just 40 carats in total – and its center motif can be worn as a brooch, transforming it into a necklace.

In contrast to their 20th-century predecessor, which featured green gems at its poles, pavé diamond drops covered with a layer of rock crystals increasing their halo have been used. used here. Also included in the set are earrings that reproduce the original design of the sunburst, consisting of its 58 drops of emeralds, with proportions adapted to the size of the ear.

“Single set of colors – retelling the story of the Maharaja of Patiala without the weight of history,” notes Choisne.

Three necklaces are at the heart of the New Maharani set, all of which explore a lotus motif. The choker of the same name looks like a diamond lace collar, with a cushion-cut center diamond weighing more than 4 carats; variant “Crystal” based on its three rows of diamonds; while the “Nacre” long necklace, featuring a total of 5,178 pearls and melon-cut crystals, can be worn in seven different ways.

The most surprising in the collection are the “New Churiyans” bracelets, a set of 10 bracelets inspired by Indian brides as a protective symbol. Choisne’s version in white gold with diamonds, mother-of-pearl and pearls can be assembled into a bobbin to match Boucheron art objects.