Go Inside the Collection From Poliform That Heralds Design’s Future
In Milan, we sat down with the brand's Laura Anzani to discuss the family business over coffee, and what it has planned for New York and beyond.
Boucheron has been crafting breathtaking jewelry for almost 170 years. It’s a story that began when Frédéric Boucheron founded the house in 1858, eventually putting down roots in the Place Vendôme in Paris—Boucheron is thought to be the first jeweler to set up shop there. It would take many years for the brand to open a boutique in the United States; its first opened on New York’s Madison Avenue in 2024. However, Boucheron has deep connections in America that go back to 1865, when American clients first appeared in its order books. Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, CEO of Boucheron, discussed this connection on an episode of The Grand Tourist. “What I know for sure is that the U.S. clients have a love for Boucheron,” she told us. “Because in our portfolio, we have great, great clients which are American.”
Now, a new exhibition marks another milestone in the high jewelry house’s stateside journey. The brand has just unveiled Boucheron: In Focus—A Monograph of a Visionary at Christie’s Rockefeller Center location in New York, running through October 18. It’s a staggering collection of about 80 pieces from across the brand’s long history. When visitors arrive, they are immediately met with a timeline depicting various moments in Boucheron’s past, and in its relationship with Christie’s. But the exhibit itself isn’t presented as an archive. Rather, the jewelry is grouped together by the brand’s core values and inspirations. This places different pieces in dialogue with each other. “Rather than following dates, it lets us curate around meaning, around the ideas and the spirit that define who we are,” Poulit-Duquesne said in a statement. “That is the whole idea behind this immersive journey: to let visitors see how a piece from 1858 and a piece created today sit in the very same conversation.”
The four central themes are architecture, nature, couture, and innovation. Architecture mines Boucheron’s history with the built environment in Paris, from the Palais-Royal, where Frédéric Boucheron opened his first boutique, to the Place Vendôme. Two pieces from past and present sit in dialogue: A brooch from 1925 in white gold, platinum, and diamonds takes cues from Art Deco; the movement inspired present-day creative director Claire Choisne for the 2021 High Jewelry Histoire de Style collection, an edition called “Art Deco.” Here, the collection is represented by a Lavallière necklace in onyx, black lacquer, diamonds, and white gold.
Frédéric Boucheron took a great deal of inspiration from the natural world, a history acknowledged in the exhibit’s nature grouping. Here, flora and fauna are brought to life at the highest level of craftsmanship. Particular standouts include a 1924 platinum tiara that’s shaped like a branch—a wedding gift for English socialite Doris Harcourt from her mother, Mary Ethel, Viscountess Harcourt, and one of Boucheron’s most devoted collectors. It stands side by side with the ivy Question Mark necklace, here rendered with white gold and emeralds.
Couture celebrates Boucheron’s incredible ability to craft jewelry that resembles the drape of a scarf or the lines of a bow. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is present in the exhibition: A gold necklace from 1959 with a ribbon that ties at the front—the metal is woven like real cloth. Finally, there’s innovation, which details how the brand has continued to push the boundaries of material and technique. Here, several pieces from the 2018 high jewelry collection Nature Triomphante are on display, each made with a real flower that has been crystallized so it lives forever.
The exhibit also marks the American debut of Boucheron’s new High Jewelry Carte Blanche collection for 2026: Human Being. A single shape runs through each of the five jewelry sets, but there are subtle differences, representing the small details that define who we are as humans. This showcase of the house’s most recent work represents how it is looking to the future, and how it continues to push its creative boundaries. “What I hope [visitors] take away is a real understanding of who Boucheron is,” says Poulit-Duquesne. “Not a museum of the past, but a Maison whose pioneering spirit has been consistent for 168 years.”
