Boucheron will take visitors to the Biennale des Antiquaires on a grand tour of exotic lands, celebrating the voyages undertaken by Louis Boucheron, the son of the jewelry house’s founder, be it in India starting in 1909 where the maison had many customers or in Iran where he was invited in 1930 to appraise the imperial family’s treasures.

Titled Rêves d’Ailleurs, the new haute joaillerie collection is organized around five main chapters: Japan, China, India, Russia, and Persia, each with a very distinctive style.

Recalling the snowy landscapes of Russia with glittering white diamonds on white gold, Splendeur de Russie is a circular chocker with baguette cut and round diamonds that can also be worn as a tiara, while Eternity is a classic Point d’Interrogation necklace, a design first created by Frédéric Boucheron in 1883, finished by a pear-cut diamond of 9 carats.

For this Russian chapter, Boucheron has also created several jewelry watches, including a stunning Cristal de Lune (Moon Crystal) with the watch dial of white gold and diamond inside a giant rock crystal, a true technical feat, and a removable diamond pompon for added va-va-voom effect with evening wear.

The Pinceau de Chine collection is inspired by the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy, using a mix of pear-cut rock crystal and diamond to create simple brush strokes around a neck or a wrist, while the Rives du Japon collection recalls waterside landscapes of Japan with its beauty and dangers, mixing white gold, diamonds, and blue sapphires, including a 22-carat cabochon sapphire on the more minimalist Joy ring, and the curling Rivage necklace which creates a wave of sapphires fringed by a diamond spray around the neck.

One of the major pieces of the Rêves d’Ailleurs collection is the Fleur des Indes necklace with a diamond tassel that conjures the past of the Maharajas, with the largest known Colombian emerald (188.79 carat) as its centerpiece. The emerald dates from the late 17th century and has been kept intact since it was first engraved with a sutra and a flower.

Another haute joaillerie feat is the Trésor de Perse necklace. Here two strings of diamonds run through a series of rock crystal cones, meeting in the center with two perfectly paired cabochon sapphires. The necklace is paired with the Trésor de Perse ring, set with a magnificent and historic cabochon sapphire of 16 carats that once belonged to the imperial family of Iran.

As first published on Blouin Artinfo.com