rowing up, Boucheron Chief Executive Hélène Poulit-Duquesne had dreams of becoming an archaeologist. This ESSEC business school graduate, who describes herself as a “frustrated artist”, has realised her ambition in a different way, by building jewellery collections that are destined to last for centuries. Archaeology for the future, one could say.

The luxury industry has been her playing field for the past thirty years, starting out at LVMH before joining Cartier in 1998. Next year will be her tenth at the head of the oldest jewellery house on Place Vendôme, since Frédéric Boucheron became the first to move there in 1893 – long before it emerged as the world-renowned hub for high jewellery that it is today.

We met Hélène Poulit-Duquesne in June for the presentation of the latest Carte Blanche collection which, as its name suggests, gives complete freedom to creative director Claire Choisne (the second annual collection, unveiled in January, explores themes from the house’s history and legacy).

Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, Boucheron Chief Executive. ©Alexandre Tabaste

Hélène Poulit-Duquesne is one of the most inspirational women in the entire industry. In a few short years, she has transformed Boucheron into “the one to watch” for its revolutionary collections and bold statements. She has succeeded in her objective to set Boucheron apart from other Place Vendôme jewellers, tell the story of an innovative and creative house with a history that spans 166 years, and extend its geographic reach: “When I arrived as CEO, Boucheron had no boutiques in China,” she says. “We now have sixteen and employ a hundred people. In September we are opening our first boutique on Madison Avenue in New York.”

During our conversation, we discussed her tenure at Boucheron, her disruptive vision, the role of women in an industry that still has few female executives, the restoration of the Place Vendôme flagship store and, of course, the Or Bleu collection whose origins - a trip to Iceland – were the chance for Hélène Poulit-Duquesne to realise another of her dreams: witness an aurora borealis.

Europa Star Jewellery: Boucheron was a “sleeping beauty” when you became CEO. How did you bring it back to life?

Hélène Poulit-Duquesne: I arrived at Boucheron with a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve. Boucheron wasn’t damaged in any way and has the most remarkable archives. I focused on those areas that would be most effective in reawakening the house and its image, and they were creativity, product and communication. With respect to creativity, I had no doubt that creative director Claire Choisne was the person for the job. I come from a marketing background; I analysed our entire offering, identified the price ranges that we didn’t cover and which styles were lacking so we could complete the collection. Globally, though, I knew our offering was the right one.

Vague asymmetrical earrings paved with diamonds, in white gold. These earrings are in the tradition of Boucheron multi-wear pieces. ©Boucheron

Historically, what distinguishes Boucheron from other Place Vendôme jewellers?

Stylistically speaking, we’re more Art Nouveau than Art Deco, even if we do have some wonderful Art Deco archives. Nature is a strong influence, which is true of other houses but at Boucheron we take inspiration more from nature in the wild. We model our jewellery on ears of wheat, thistles, ferns… not so much flowers as grasses, weeds almost. This is nature as it grows in fields and meadows, not nature that has been stage-managed.

And beyond these stylistic idiosyncrasies?

There are differences in terms of corporate culture, too. Frédéric Boucheron was a pioneer. He was the first, in 1893, to move to Place Vendôme, the future epicentre of high jewellery in the French tradition. He was a wonderful innovator. In 1879 he designed the Point d’Interrogation [question mark]. This supple, clasp-free necklace not only employs ingenious techniques; it made a statement about women’s changing place in society. Frédéric Boucheron wanted to be part of that evolution.

In what way?

The Point d’Interrogation appeared at a time when women needed someone to assist them with their jewellery when they were dressing for a grand reception, whereas they could put on the Point d’Interrogation without anyone’s help. It’s a little-known fact that when Frédéric Boucheron set up his business in Galerie de Valois, he began by offering a curation service. He didn’t design jewellery and he didn’t make jewellery. Instead, he selected jewels for his clients, choosing the most extravagant, flattering parures that expressed their personality.

Did Frédéric Boucheron’s avant-garde thinking extend to how he managed the business?

He was certainly ahead of his time in the way he ran the business and managed his employees. This was the only jewellery house whose artisans, after completing a piece, signed it with their name. He considered them to be artists. He was a founding member of the Haute Ecole de Joaillerie on Rue du Louvre, because he wanted to help the profession evolve and provide training for young people. He was very much a philanthropist, too. He opened an orphanage for children whose parents had worked in the industry, as well as the first retirement home for jewellers.

How do you perceive your role at Boucheron?

Claire and I share the same vision for Boucheron: it will still be here in 160 years’ time, whereas we are simply “passing through”. Our role is to perpetuate Frédéric Boucheron’s legacy, meaning have the house evolve so that we leave it stronger than ever. We’re both obsessed by progress and innovation, and use creativity to push the boundaries of technique.

One of the projects you’ve undertaken since your appointment is the full-scale renovation of the historic Place Vendôme boutique. How is this address different from the others?

I managed the entire renovation, which took 18 months. I was on-site almost every day in my hard hat and boots. I commissioned interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon for the decoration, because he specialises in hotels and had never worked on a boutique in his life. I asked him to design an interior that was more like a hotel than a boutique, where clients would feel they were being welcomed into a family home. We decorated it like an apartment, with a blend of contemporary furniture, vintage finds and items that Pierre-Yves Rochon designed himself. His wife adored the whole concept and would go to Saint-Ouen antiques market every weekend, searching for treasures which she would have delivered to the site every Monday. These objects have a history, they bring life to a place and this is what gives the impression of walking into someone’s home. After Vendôme, we developed a retail concept that we’ve rolled out to our boutiques. I choose the fabric, wallpaper, paint, all the materials. I wanted to be certain they aligned with my vision of Boucheron.

Can you tell us more about this concept?

We devised it with architectural firm Lecoadic-Scotto for all the Boucheron boutiques. What I didn’t want was for them all to look the same. Instead, each tells a story around a particular theme. For example, one boutique has Boucheron and India as its theme. For another it’s French formal gardens. You will see certain items of furniture in each one, in particular a Chinese lacquer cabinet that we designed. It’s a recognisable piece and very much Boucheron, but depending on the surrounding environment, it can be black, pink, green, yellow, red or orange, so it’s never quite the same object.

There are still very few women at the head of high jewellery houses, yet I feel women make bolder decisions. Would you agree?

Absolutely. Perhaps we have innate courage? Possibly we’re less afraid to shake things up. Jewellery is an art. We see it in museums but I don’t believe it’s something to be kept behind glass, a decorative object to be admired from afar. I always say jewellery doesn’t belong in a safe! It only has meaning when worn by a woman or a man. Claire rarely works from gouache renderings now, modelling her designs directly in three dimensions, instead. The men at the head of the other Place Vendôme jewellers are more traditional. This could be because jewellery doesn’t concern them as much, or because they’ve forgotten its purpose is to be enjoyed.

And possibly men are more inclined to see jewellery as an investment?

Yes, an investment or something a man gives a woman, a symbol of power…

In 2020 you launched the Carte Blanche collection, which gives Claire Choisne complete freedom over her designs. How did the idea come about?

When I arrived at Boucheron, we showed just one collection a year, in July. Claire and I quickly reached the same conclusion: that Boucheron had to be Place Vendôme’s most creative jeweller. So I decided we would launch two collections, one in January and another in July. For the July collection, I always ask Claire to dig deep into her imagination and channel her dreams. There are no commercial objectives attached to the Carte Blanche collection but I do expect it to generate a large amount of press interest. The January collection is more classical, aimed more at investors, with the emphasis on the gemstones and themes drawn from Boucheron’s legacy, stylistic currents, important customers, history, etc. It doesn’t matter if there are fewer articles, but every piece has to sell. I took this more radical approach to put an end to the question of creativity versus sales. Surprisingly, the Ailleurs collection from 2022 really pushed creative boundaries, yet it sold out in a very short time. We also realised we were getting more press coverage for the January collections. In the end, we’ve found a winning formula.

What happens to any unsold pieces? Do they join the Heritage collection?

Some do, although I don’t want the Heritage department to become a receptacle for unsold pieces. Only the most exceptional, museum-quality pieces enter the collection.

Wave diamond tiara from 1910 (dismantled in 1913). ©Boucheron Archives

What happens to the others? Are they taken apart?

It can take time to sell a piece of high jewellery. One of the accounts books recently revealed that Frédéric Boucheron sold a necklace in 1928 which had been made seventeen years earlier, in 1901. Maintaining inventory has financial consequences but if you are in a position to do so, jewellery doesn’t have a sell-by date. Gold and diamonds will always be gold and diamonds. Everything we create is for eternity.

You were part of the adventure that became the Or Bleu collection, when you travelled to Iceland with Claire Choisne. How was that?

Amazing! Absolutely magical! I’d always promised myself I would see an aurora borealis before I died. We arrived in Iceland in April 2022, and I’d been told you only saw them between January and February. One night, I was curled up under the duvet when someone came hammering on the door. It was Claire, wearing a woolly hat and shouting “Aurora borealis! Aurora borealis!” It was half past midnight. I leapt out of bed and threw a parka over my pyjamas. We went up onto the hotel roof and watched it with the entire creative team. I felt very emotional.

So the creative process lasted two years?

Yes, a good two years. While in Iceland, Claire and I would see a landscape and have the same idea for a piece. One day, we were walking by a waterfall and I said, “Do you see the cascading necklace there?” and it turned out we’d each had the same thought. I’m a frustrated artist and she’s a very organised creative. We complement each other. We agree on the creative aspect and we agree on how to put things into practice. And we’re both stubborn. When we want something, we don’t give up until we get it.

Ondes rings set with rock crystal and paved with diamonds, in white gold. ©Boucheron

Some of the pieces in the collection are made with sand. That’s quite a bold move for high jewellery.

Yes, although sand is still a natural material. Other materials we’ve used are even more avant-garde. Aerogel, for example, which is the lightest substance in the world and used by NASA. Two years ago we worked with pebbles. Then there’s the Fleurs Eternelles collection that incorporates real flower petals.

Is “being bold” a driver for creativity at Boucheron?

Yes. We never set limits on what we can do. A creative needs to feel they are supported if they are to express themselves fully and I give Claire that support. Last year’s More is More collection [inspired by comic books] was totally off the wall. We even parked a food truck outside the boutique! We had singing, dancing ice-skaters, music blasting. When we do something, we do it all the way.

More is More divided opinion. Was it well received by collectors?

Yes. Obviously some pieces are more challenging to wear than others, the scrunchies for example, but the Carte Blanche collections verge on contemporary art, hence certain collectors buy pieces not necessarily to wear them but because they want to have them in their collection. The people who acquire this type of object are often important collectors.

Does the Or Bleu collection deliver a message about environmental protection and, if so, can messages such as this, from a jewellery house, have an impact?

I hope so. The subliminal message is that water is precious. Every one of Claire’s collections carries a hidden message. Maybe you’ve seen our jewellery made from Cofalit, which is asbestos waste made safe by vitrification. This is end-of-life waste. You can’t do anything with it, apart from use it as backfill. Well, we used it in our Ailleurs high jewellery collection and we created the Jack Ultime capsule collection. I spent five years working on sustainability issues. I wasn’t going to let anyone accuse us of greenwashing, I believe too strongly in sincerity for that. Only when we had something substantial to say did we publish our Precious for the Future impact report. It describes, in a humble way, where we’re at and what we have achieved so far. Cofalit was the vector for this. Claire and I are obsessed with nature, which is often part of the message our collections convey. Contemplation, in 2020, took the sky as its theme. Ailleurs was about the preservation of nature. And Or Bleu is about water. How can we make water, an increasingly precious resource, eternal?

What were the major technical challenges involved in creating the Or Bleu collection?

Working with sand. This is black sand that has been compacted by 3D printing, not gold that has been plated with sand. It’s a complicated process. We also created new forms, for example the waterfall necklace that’s 148 centimetres long. It’s probably the longest necklace ever made. We’ve created shapes that the human hand could never reproduce. Several pieces in the Or Bleu collection represent moving water, but no-one can draw the sea. We used software to simulate the ripple of waves, then selected the examples that we found the most beautiful and gave the chosen image to the engraver.

You say no-one can recreate the movement of a wave but look at Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa. It feels almost alive…

True, in fact Boucheron reproduced Hokusai’s print almost identically in 1910 for a tiara, which then became the inspiration for one of the brooches in the Or Bleu collection. It was actually called the Wave tiara and it never sold. Our archives record that the stones were dismantled in June 1913.

How do you and Claire Choisne work as a team?

I drive her. And I can be crazier than her. For More is More, for example, I wanted to make a necklace from recycled coke cans! “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” [Oscar Wilde]. I open infinite doors so that Claire can land on the moon.

Which legacy piece would you say captures the quintessence of Boucheron’s art as a jeweller?

That would have to be the Point d’Interrogation necklace. It can be interpreted in any number of ways. If a client must have a Boucheron in their collection, that would be the one. I’ve often worn it for grand occasions and it always makes me stand tall. It gives you a regal bearing and sits almost on the heart.

What about Boucheron watches?

Watches are a fascinating segment. I consider the Reflet to be an icon. It was introduced in 1947 and Boucheron filed a patent for its interchangeable strap. We’re not currently developing our watch offering because I wanted our team to focus all their efforts on jewellery, but we will do so at a later stage. Watches were a later addition at Boucheron, under Gérard Boucheron who was part of the third generation. So we’ll follow his lead and wait a while…

The Quatre turned twenty this year. What, in your opinion, has made it such an icon?

A jeweller can only grow when it has been blessed with a true icon. Quatre encapsulates Boucheron’s design codes, in fact it was created for that. There are the famous double gadroons, which stand for togetherness and love, and the Clous de Paris which represent Place Vendôme’s cobblestones. The diamonds are a reminder that Boucheron invented a specific serti-ligne setting, while the grosgrain is because Frédéric Boucheron was the son of a draper who grew up surrounded by cloth. This also explains the woven gold Boucheron used for the Delilah necklace, the Cape de Lumière and the Cocteau necklace, which knots around the throat like a scarf.

Is it difficult to reimagine an icon?

Yes, because Quatre embodies four Boucheron signatures that must be seamlessly fused together. Also, it was designed as a ring and it’s simply stunning as a ring. My task has been to reinvent it as other shapes, for the neck and the wrist. We’re launching lots of bracelets for the Quatre’s twentieth anniversary.

You’ve worked for some of the foremost luxury groups: LVMH, Richemont and Kering. You’ve witnessed the revolution in luxury, especially jewellery, from the inside. How do you explain the jewellery sector’s remarkable vitality these past ten years?

It’s a product category that reassures customers on several levels. It’s an investment and it’s also become a “style object”. When you buy a designer dress, you know it’s marked by an era and that it has a limited lifespan. Ultimately, you might throw it away. When you buy jewellery, on the other hand, it’s for ever. Jewellery isn’t thrown away; it’s passed from generation to generation. It also functions as an accessory, and has found its way back into the everyday lives of women as well as men. You can buy a Quatre ring for the same price as a Dior bag.

Making of the Eau Forte Bracelet paved with diamonds and decorated with black ink, in white gold. ©Boucheron

How do you capture the interest of Place Vendôme’s “very important customers”? What are your strategies?

We treat them like family members. We have a relationship with our very important customers that few houses can equal. They know Claire Choisne, and our size means I have met almost all of them personally. This is also why we have an apartment on the second floor [of the Place Vendôme flagship] where we host our most important customers. It has a library, a drawing room, a dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom.

Looking back, what is your proudest achievement so far?

Possibly the Fleurs Eternelles rings, because of the philosophy that inspired them. Jewellery is, by nature, an enduring object. Bury a piece of jewellery in the ground and a hundred thousand years later, it will still be there. Claire and I wanted to give the gift of eternity to something truly ephemeral, a flower petal. Every weekend I’d bring armfuls of flowers back from my country house in Normandy and put them in a taxi for “petalist” Claire Boucl, so she could stabilise them. Then there is the renovation of the Place Vendôme boutique. I put so much of myself into it that, when it was finished, I felt almost bereft. I’d say those are the two things of which I’m most proud.