Boucheron has never been one to shy away from drama. Especially when it comes to high jewellery — the sky is the limit with Claire Choisne at the helm, and its most recent collection lacks in neither fear-inducing beauty or craftsmanship.
They title their annual high jewellery explorations ‘Carte Blanche’ or ‘blank document’ for good reason; year on year, they prove that their laboratories are always developing new ways of breathing life into jewellery, constantly at the forefront of artful, material innovation. Yet, this umbrella title still doesn’t quite cover how far they’ve gone this time, trading playful curiousity for scientific precision and crystalline beauty that borders on eerie at moments.
Expanding on the theme of making the ephemeral eternal, this 28-piece collection — titled Impermanence — draws inspiration from the philosophy of wabi sabi and the art of ikebana. Six botanical compositions — arranged from light to dark — spotlight everything from plants to insects crafted in borosilicate glass, mother-of-pearl, ceramic, rock crystal, onyx and coatings of Vantablack. Only these individual pieces are woven so intricately into their presentations that it takes a whole other minute to decipher where the actual jewellery is — yet another demonstration of the house’s attention to detail, and the increasing respect of this annual jewellery affair as one of wearable art over elevated luxury.
As fragile as they are intricate, these expressions of life invite deeper contemplation of our natural world so as to better take care of it. Boucheron’s signature approach to celebrating life’s full cycle as time naturally weathers it takes centrestage here, the slow fade into the dark mirroring the dwindling of life as well as the power that comes with dedicating 18,000 hours of work into a piecing together a single freeze-frame of beauty. Here, Men’s Folio unpacks each of the compositions, uncovering the balance and harmony Boucheron’s artisans have woven into these delicate, floral arrangements and what makes each of them so special — beyond what meets the eye.
Composition 6
A tulip and eucalyptus here are expressed with borosilicate glass — over rock crystal — due to its malleability. The artisans mastered the art of glassmaking to get the material to fold and curve at a thickness of just 2mm, all to keep the plants as detailed and life-like as possible while showcasing that barely-there gossamer quality. The dragonfly on the other hand is barely a millimeter thick, with the insect’s wings formed by an overlay of sapphire glass on a film of mother-of-pearl to mimic their natural iridescence — further enhanced by the laser-cut veining.
How to wear: The eucalyptus transforms into a brooch of hair jewellery when picked, the tulip is a brooch, while the dragonfly is worn as ear jewellery.
Composition 5
Here, the thistle is rendered in plant-based resin using ultra-high-resolution 3D printing technology — a first in high jewellery. To ensure that this unrivalled detail-enabling technique could also afford the setting of diamonds on the blooms, the artisans came up with a new “couture” setting where each bezel-set diamond is sewn into one of the thistle’s cell-like alveoli. The result? The larger thistle head has more than 600 diamonds set in, while the smaller one has over 200. Complemented with white gold stems, spikes, leaves, and a white gold and diamond rhinoceros beetle — all meticulously coated in white ceramic — you have an astonishing arrangement of precision that’s brave, bold, and celebratory of life’s transience.
How to wear: The larger thistle transforms into a brooch or a crossbody jewel, which is hung on a cord made of bio-sourced material — a first again in high jewellery. The smaller thistle detaches into a double-finger ring, and the beetle is worn as a brooch.
Composition 4
This composition contains the most jewellery pieces, but only because its play on the contrasts of light and texture makes it the most effective in showing the striking breadth of Boucheron’s experimentation for this high jewellery collection. While the oat and the cyclamen come out from two sides of a white gold vase set entirely with diamonds in a snow setting, the eyes are naturally drawn the cyclamen’s white gold petals: 700 rose-cut diamonds of different shapes and sizes form a virtual stained-glass window of diamonds, each stone hand-picked to blend flawlessly and follow the flower’s naturally undulating contours. But the details are what seal the deal — the calyx, the point where the petal meets the stem, is mimicked with the use of custom-cut rock crystals that create reflections with its facets, the blooms outlined in black lacquer for maximum drama. Then there is the caterpillar, which is crafted in white gold, and set in diamonds and rounded black spinels. Its fine hairs are mimicked by fibers from a brush used by the Creative Studio, while an articulated system allows the body to arch or flatten on command — just like the real insect.
How to wear: The cyclamen blooms have a can transform into either a bracelet or brooch thanks to a pivoting mechanism. The oat stalk and butterfly become hair jewels, while caterpillar will happily crawl on the lapel of a blazer as a brooch.
Composition 3
To make sure the different textures of black are reflected well on the iris and stag beetle, the artisans of Boucheron explored various types of black DLC — Diamond Like Carbon — to showcase different textures; matte for some petals, glossy for their striped markings, then shiny for the beetle’s body, matte for the legs, and rough for the mandibles. Diamonds set into white gold pattern the flower’s surface with white lines, while two lines of grain-set diamonds and two dewdrops of rock crystal make the leaf of the iris glisten with morning dew. The wisteria on the other hand is made to be as robust and voluminous as a real-life wisteria by combining light materials like ceramic, titanium and aluminium, weighing just 150 grams — assembled by hand and completed with pavé-set diamonds for a majestic finish.
How to wear: The iris is a shoulder brooch, while the wisteria has a comb system that allows it to be worn in the hair or fastened onto clothing. The stag beetle is a brooch.
Composition 2
As the saturation increases, the compositions get more sculptural in its form. The magnolia here was achieved through first scanning a real-life one — complete with its branches, flowers and buds — before being created in aluminium to maintain the naturally off-balance, horizontal silhouette. But the actual petals aside, what’s really special about the magnolia is the unconventional way the diamonds in the blooms’ white gold hearts and stamens are in an inverse setting; their culets face outwards, which in turn create unexpected plays of light. The stick bug is formed with rhodium-plated white gold, its body and wings embellished with grain-set diamonds and a pear-shaped diamond crowning its head. It’s super fine legs are a display of the Boucheron team’s absolute precision in craft, a tremendous technical challenge made flawless.
How to wear: The magnolia is both a head jewel and a collar necklace, while the stick insect is a brooch.
Composition 1
In the absence of light, Claire Choisne illuminates Boucheron’s brilliance. The poppy blossom’s petals have hand-etched veining on the inside with a coating of Vantablack — which absorbs 99.965% of light, making it effectively one of the darkest materials ever created. Matter dissolves into the void, while black spinels — faced both up and down — at the heart of the bloom enforce their presence. The sweet pea’s tendrils unfurl with titanium tendrils embellished with black spinels in a graduated flush setting, while the flowers are sculpted from onyx and black aventurine glass over many hours for maximum delicacy. The entire arrangement is held up by a vase made by 3D-printing black sand.
How to wear: The poppy turns into a headband or brooch, while the sweet pea can transform into a suite of brooches. The butterfly on the other hand can be both a shoulder brooch.
Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our August 2025 issue.