Small Talk
CLAIRE CHOISNE
Boucheron’s artistic director discusses New Maharajahs, a collection inspired by the extravagant special order placed by Indian royal Bhupinder Singh on his visit to Paris in 1928
Why did you take inspiration from the Maharajah of Patiala?
When I joined Boucheron ten years ago, it was the first story that everybody told me. It’s really a one-of-a-kind story, a fairytale. On August 2 1928, the Maharajah of Patiala crossed Place Vendôme with his guards and six iron safes containing 7,571 diamonds and 1,432 emeralds. He entrusted Maison Boucheron with the creation of a remarkable collection of 149 pieces in only six months. This order remains the largest ever placed in the Place Vendôme. I was totally fascinated by the story and by the original drawings.
Historically, the pieces are impressive but, from a design point of view, they’re over the top for today. I reinvented the design by bringing subtlety, purity and delicacy to it. That’s why only one set of the Histoire de Style, New Maharajahs collection has colour, with the use of Colombian emeralds, and the rest of the collection is in an all-white palette of diamonds, rock crystal, pearl and mother-of-pearl. I’m happy because the designs are different, but the fairytale effect remains the same.
Which was the most challenging piece to design for this collection and why?
The New Maharani necklace, as I imagined the piece as a lace of diamonds and rock crystal. The challenge was having a necklace that could move and adapt to the body of the client. The craftsmen had to find ways to hide the articulated system, while having no space to do it. In addition, they ingeniously created only one clasp for this versatile necklace so it can be worn as a full necklace or as a choker.
What does the inspiration for this collection signal about Boucheron’s commitment to producing jewellery that can be worn by both men and women?
Historically, men have worn sumptuous jewels in all different cultures: from kings in Europe to maharajahs in India, and tsars in Russia to the pharaoh in Egypt. I don’t see why this should change. While the original designs of the Maharajah order were mainly made to be worn by a man, I wanted to turn the concept around and make jewels for women that could be borrowed by men.
As long as it is natural and not overdone, we will continue to put pieces on men. A piece like Sarpech (pictured) can look great as a hair jewel on a woman and a brooch on a man. What is important to me is a very natural and strong yet elegant result, whether the piece is worn by a woman or a man.