The Boucheron brand is one of the most valued luxury jewelry brands in the world. Its founder is a Frenchman, Frédéric Boucheron. He was honored with the highest French distinction, the Legion of Honor. He gained fame for his ability to combine Greek, Etruscan and Egyptian styles in his designs and for his perfect imitation of nature.

Frédéric Boucheron worked as a courier and shop assistant from the age of 14. In 1858, at the age of 28, he decided to settle down. His employer at the time reportedly said, "He is an excellent shop assistant, but he lacks the character to become a business owner."

The beginnings of this jewelry house can be traced back to the opening of the first small boutique. In 1858, thanks to the sum of 10 thousand francs collected from his family, Boucheron opened a small boutique in the Galerie de Valois, under the arcades of the Palais-Royal, which at that time, at the height of the Second French Empire, was the center of the luxury goods trade. The Boucheron jewelry house opens its first manufactory in 1866.

It was also the first jeweler on the Place Vendôme in Paris (1893). Legend has it that Frédéric Boucheron chose the location at number 26 because it was the most sunny spot on the square. He believed that diamonds in windows, receiving so much daylight, gave an exceptional brilliance.

A year later, in 1867, at the Paris Exposition Universelle, Boucheron receives a gold medal for the spirit of innovation in his jewelry.

In 1897, the Boucheron jewelry house opens its boutique in Moscow. In 1911, it was moved to Saint Petersburg (reopening in Moscow in 2003).

In 1903, a new boutique is opened in London on Bond Street and an office in New York.

Frédéric Boucheron was once fascinated by the jewelry collection of Carolina Otero, known as La Belle Otero – a dancer, actress and courtesan. She was the lover of many rich and titled men, thanks to whom she became the owner of a rich collection of jewelry made of rare and valuable gemstones. Despite the countless jewels she owned, she most often wore a peony pendant, a symbol of true love. She believed it represented the bloom of spring and emphasized her rosy cheeks. The character of “Belle”, as she was called, and her exceptional collection certainly influenced the later visions of the brand’s founder’s jewelry.

When, in 1888, Frédéric was leaving on one of his long expeditions in search of rare stones, he gave his wife Gabrielle a necklace depicting a snake, which was supposed to protect his beloved during her absence. From then on, it became a symbol of love and a protective talisman, and was given the status of a characteristic motif for the brand.

In 1878, Boucheron received first prize at the Paris Exposition Universelle for his work, including a sapphire necklace created for Marie-Louise MacKay. The piece featured a 159-carat central sapphire. That same year, the first designs for jewelry featuring the snake motif appeared, which remains a cornerstone of Boucheron's style to this day.

Frédéric Boucheron was an adventurer who, in search of precious and rare stones, undertook exotic journeys and was even able to go underground, to the mines, for this purpose. It was this curiosity to search for real treasures among precious stones that became one of the pillars on which the uniqueness of the brand was built - to this day, one of its most important values ​​is the guarantee of delivering jewelry with only exceptional quality, the rarest, excellent stones.

He was a pioneer of original style and innovative techniques. His designs were quickly recognized at the Exposition Universelle.

For the founder of the brand, jewelry was a work of art and even each watch was created as jewelry. Since the beginnings of the jewelry house, Boucheron has been a forerunner, ahead of its time with ideas, style, innovation. Boucheron's characteristic style expresses an elegance that creates classics of the present. Women fell in love with its gold laces, decorated with enamel and diamonds. They appreciated the stunning pearls, suspended on ribbons and transparent enamel in the form of intertwined knots.