Tatler Plus Boucheron
Boucheron’s most iconic necklace, which was first designed by the house’s founder as an expression of women’s freedom, gets a 21st-century update
The evolution of women’s style is a story of liberation—first from waist-cinching corsets, later from skirts and, more recently, from teetering high heels. But what’s lesser-known is that several decades earlier, Frédéric Boucheron was loosening women’s chains—quite literally—through his namesake jewellery.
Arguably the first contemporary jeweller to open a boutique at Paris’s Place Vendôme, Boucheron first drew his Question Mark necklaces in a sketch that dates back to 1879. The asymmetrical design was created to be worn loosely around the neck and without a clasp thanks to an ingenious spring system.
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This year, Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne has decided to reinterpret the collection with eight new necklaces that pay homage to the craftsmanship of Boucheron’s original design. They were recently showcased alongside several archival pieces in the maison’s plush Le 26 apartment during Paris Couture week.
“The Boucheron style is above all a state of mind,” says Choisne. “In my opinion, it is captured perfectly by the Question Mark necklace, which I wanted to reinstate as one of Boucheron’s main signature pieces as soon as I arrived at the maison.
“This stylistic approach based on asymmetry, profusion and the aesthetics of curved lines was reinforced by a technical feat that was totally innovative in jewellery: the absence of any clasp, which allowed women, if they so wished, to put on their jewellery alone, without the assistance of another person.”
