Crown Jewels

Since its founding in 1858, Boucheron has been bedazzling royals, celebrities and other boldfaced names—from Russia’s last Czar Nicholas, who wooed Princess Alix of Hesse with one of the house’s diamond and pearl diadems in 1894, to Prince Charles, who gave Camilla a Boucheron tiara as a wedding gift. Now, on the occasion of its 150th anniversary, the haute Paris jeweler, owned by Gucci Group since 2000, is setting itself up for another successful century.

Boucheron opened an ultraluxurious, by-appointment-only New York shop at the Plaza Athénée hotel in September. Modeled after its salon privé on Paris’s Place Vendôme, the outpost allows U.S. customers to special order one-of-a-kind pieces. “The requests for bespoke have gone up, so we decided to offer a space for our discreet clients,” explained Boucheron chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Bédos, who also oversaw the U.S. debut of the brand’s e-commerce site, Boucheron.com, this year.

In an effort to mix business with pleasure, the label teamed up with circus-cum-burlesque troupe Spiegelworld to create a show based on Boucheron’s glamorous past. The 90-minute production, called Désir, bowed at New York’s South Street Seaport in August and features performers sporting reproductions of major Boucheron pieces. “For us, this was a very interesting way to present how jewelry is not just about the visual but also about the pleasure of the physical,” Bédos said. Over the next two and a half years, Désir will make its way to Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago. And those inspired by the show can take some of the magic home— a pop-up Boucheron store will travel with the production.

Necklace: Courtesy of Boucheron