The House of Boucheron is a French family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858.
In 1893, Frédéric Boucheron became the first jeweller to move to Place Vendôme. Legend has it that he chose 26 Place Vendôme, where Boucheron remains to this day, because it was the sunniest corner of the square.[citation needed] He believed that the diamonds in the windows would sparkle all the more brilliantly.
Czar Alexander III was a client, as was his son, the doomed Nicholas II. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was especially fond of her Boucheron tiara which she inherited from Lady Greville,[citation needed] who originally purchased it from the House. Her grandson Prince Charles passed the tiara on to his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as a wedding gift. Queen Elizabeth also has a collection of Boucheron jewels as did Wallis Simpson the Duchess of Windsor.
Americans are also collectors of Boucheron creations. Household names like the Astors, the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers have returned time and again to the House of Boucheron for exceptional pieces of high jewellery. One American bride to be, Mary Ethel Burns, in preparation of becoming Lady Harcourt, turned to Boucheron to create the jewellery for her wedding trousseau. After her marriage Lady Harcourt was a faithful Boucheron client commissioning a number of pieces, including tiaras, necklaces and bracelets throughout her lifetime. |
