Boucheron Arrives in New York With First Boutique

Boucheron has set its sights on the U.S., opening a boutique in New York.

Situated at 747 Madison Avenue, the opening begins a new chapter between the Kering-owned French jeweler and the States — a relationship that dates back to its founding in 1858 by Frédéric Boucheron, who crafted pieces for some of America’s Gilded Age elites.

“The market has been waiting for us,” Boucheron chief executive officer Hélène Poulit-Duquesne said of the U.S.

The brand in the past operated stores in Hawaii and San Francisco, but both closed before Poulit-Duquesne came on as CEO in 2015, leaving Boucheron without stand-alone stores in America and retailing solely through retail partners Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

That changes now.

When Poulit-Duquesne joined, she focused on Asia-Pacific first. “We had to make choices. It would have been difficult for the size of the company to really succeed in both parts of the world. Now China and Korea are big markets, and we can reinvest  in the U.S.,” she said, laying out a strategy that will see multiple boutiques and activations over the next two years.

“You have to push for a long time and be very patient to enter the U.S.,” she said, adding that America “needs a lot of investment to do it right.”   

Boucheron, Poulit-Duquesne reported, is a more “mature”  company now. “We are ready.”

The 3,900-square-foot boutique serves as “a bridge between Paris and New York”  and is linked to Boucheron’s  26 Place Vendôme flagship in Paris, which was renovated in 2018.

“At the time[ in 2018] the big brands were pushing a concept, which is the opposite of what I wanted,” the CEO said.

Instead, she selected Pierre-Yves Rochon, the interior decorator behind some of the world’s top luxury hotels, to bring a fresh eye and a “family spirit.”  The aim was to create a warm and accommodating space using history, custom-made furniture, and contemporary artwork as a means to share the legacy of Boucheron’s creations.  Each boutique is different, she stressed, but the family spirit idea remains.

“What I hate is when you’re in New York, Dubai, or Tokyo, and you don’t remember which boutique you were in, because they’re all identical,” she said of the general concept of other jewelers’ stores.

The brand’s New York identity is set through the lens of Art Deco, a style Boucheron “is very strong in” and something many iconic buildings in New York are “known for.” The journey starts with the facade, built entirely of glass and metal. “It really belongs to our patrimony,” she said of the emerald cut design, the shape of Place Vendôme as seen from above, a “symbol” found in every boutique globally.

As customers experience the space the relationship between the two cities unfurls through the language of Art Deco meets modernity. The traditional windows and steles are embellished with black lacquered wood and pronounced geometric contours, while the Art Deco-style furnishings throughout the space cement the theme further. Collections are displayed alongside objets d’art, like alabaster lamps by designer Pierre Chareau. A wall of straw marquetry — an artistic craft that dates back to the 17^th century — accents a central window, here a creation by the French artist Olga Thune-Larsen, the fifth time that Boucheron has collaborated with the artist in its boutiques.

Along with importing French craftsmanship to New York, the space brings several elements from its Place Vendôme boutique in reinterpreted form. Chandeliers, made by Maison Delisle, create a cascade of light, and the green-lacquered wooden chest of drawers dominating the entrance of the Paris boutique has been reproduced for New York, this time in the shape of an emerald cut.

As guests descend a small set of stairs to a seating selling area, they are greeted with whimsical wallpaper from Atelier d’Offard composed of numerous Boucheron advertising campaigns from the past — a nod, the brand says, to the rampant fly-posting typical of New York and Paris streets.

Founder Frédéric Boucheron was one of few French jewelers who attracted American society early on, counting the Astors and Vanderbilts as clients.  During Hollywood’s golden age, Greta Garbo, Rita Hayworth and Marlene Dietrich wore the brand.  The appeal to Hollywood remains true today — the 2023 Oscars red carpet saw Charlize Theron don never-before-seen diamonds from  the French house’s Quatre collection, currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The Manhattan boutique pays homage to these many iconic moments with pieces from the private collection on display, including an Art Nouveau butterfly brooch that Elizabeth Taylor wore to the 1976 Oscars. Underscoring the maison’s savior-faire through patrimony,  three  reproductions of archive pieces will shine in the Madison boutique — an aigrette that Cornelius Vanderbilt bought for his daughter Gertrude; a necklace made to order for Marie-Louise Mackay in 1899, and a bow brooch commissioned by Caroline Astor’s husband, also in 1899 — all to show “the link and history between Boucheron and U.S.,” the CEO said.

Last year the Kering-owned jeweler acquired  a Paris-based specialist workshop that includes more than 60 artisans,  reinforcing its high jewelry capabilities, a category Poulit-Duquesne is sure will resonate with a newfound American customer. Under Poulit-Duquesne’s direction, the brand now debuts two haute joaillerie collections a year designed by creative director Claire Choisne: Histoire de Style, a nod to patrimony pieces, more diamond focused, and Carte Blanche, which zeros in on unexpected ideas of innovation — a core value from its founding — letting Choisne’s imagination roam wild.

With the way the CEO sees clients buying,  “I know with some of them, it’s more like contemporary art. They know Claire, they know her work as if she was an artist, and they love the story behind it, like when you buy a painting from an artist,”  she said, adding, “And for clients who want more classical pieces, big stones, probably investment pieces, we have that.  I think we will find these two kinds of clients in the U.S.”

In the rear of the store, a side room for VIPs opens up, taking clients into the ambiance of 26 V, Boucheron’s private apartment in Paris. “Each VIP we tell a different story, “ the CEO said of the space, where Calico was chosen to create a cloud-patterned wallpaper, echoing the wall covering in the bedroom of the Vendôme apartment, reinterpreted with a pastel palette and applied to the ceiling, like a window onto a sunset sky.

The Parisian view all comes to life via a digital animation in the form of three windows that give Madison Avenue clients a view  from the Boucheron boutique’s Salon de Lumière. As a final touch to this very exclusive setting, a Pierre Chareau sofa from 1923 was brought in,  capping off the boutique’s conversation between heritage and modernity.

“We are always mixing very modern with very ancient,” she said.

The Madison Avenue store is the beginning of Poulit-Duquesne’s bullish strategy, with three more boutiques planned,  first in Las Vegas at the Fontainebleau before the end of  2024, then Los Angles and Miami in 2025. Over the next several years Boucheron will “really be  focused on stores,” the CEO said.  “We’ll probably have two boutiques per year,  steadily growing in the U.S.”

The opening will be marked by an immersive experience during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 10 at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

“We want to tell the story of Boucheron, but not in a very traditional way,” the CEO said of the the four-stage experience, which will revolve around the four creative pillars of the maison’s history.  The first room will showcase the couture heritage of founder Frédéric Boucheron with a selection of archive pieces — never before seen in the U.S. Next, a room dedicated to innovation, with a display of Claire Choisne’s 26 new creations for the Carte Blanche Or Bleu collection, a unique ode to water.  Another section will be devoted to the 20^th anniversary of the Quatre ring — with a yet to be revealed updated take on the classic that prioritizes technology and innovation. Capping off the experience will be a bit of French art de vivre, in a winter garden that will echo the glorious Jardin d’Hiver inside Boucheron’s flagship in Paris.

The experience will runs from Sept. 10 to 12, with private appoints on Sept. 11, and opens to the public by reservation on Sept. 12.