Boucheron Dechainee

As the oldest high-end jewelry boutique on the legendary Place Vendôme in Paris, dating to 1893, Boucheron stands for history, sensuality and avant-garde style. The French fine jewelry house has created iconic rings, necklaces and other adornments over its more than 160-year history for royalty like the Russian imperial family, the Maharaja of Patiala and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It has also received popular acclaim for its modern designs and playful motifs such as serpents and cats.

Since its founding in 1858 by Frédéric Boucheron with a boutique at the Palais Royal arcades, the maison has sought to create unforgettably unique pieces, push the boundaries of innovations in jewelry design and celebrate the opulence of gold. Many of its pieces are sculpted in gold by expert goldsmiths so that the material becomes a design element in its own right.

At its best, Edwardian jewelry was all about the exquisite diamond, platinum and pearl creations made by such famous names as Cartier and Boucheron. Later, Frédéric’s son Louis became especially interested in the Art Deco style as well as accessories like cigarette holders, bags and belts.

Boucheron is most famously known for its sources of inspiration: nature, animals and the earth. Its iconic Serpent Bohème collection, introduced in 1968, references the curves and scales of the animal with pear-shaped motifs and coiled accents adorned with diamonds and other precious stones like turquoise, lapis lazuli and malachite. (A 1960s-era Boucheron brooch featuring a lavish mound of artfully assembled round and baguette diamonds set in platinum is a dinner-party conversation starter from any angle.)

Frédéric Boucheron gave a serpent necklace to his wife as a symbol of love and protection. Leopards, hummingbirds, deer and hedgehogs are referenced in the Animaux de Collection, while high-end 3D technology in the Nature Triomphante meticulously re-creates flower petals, ivy branches and other organic forms.

Boucheron also pays homage to Paris, the city where it was founded. The octagonal shape of the Place Vendôme is translated into the geometric Liseré pieces, and the Clou de Paris motif — which is integral to the house's Quatre series — is inspired by the cobblestones on its streets. Since 1859, when Boucheron introduced a collection of pocket watches, the maison has also regularly created timepieces with the same elegance and refinement as its jewelry.

Despite having such a long legacy, Boucheron has always been ahead of its time. Its creative collections and bold jewelry remain coveted and cherished. In 2018, its flagship in the Place Vendôme reopened after a restoration under its current owner Kering.

Find antique and vintage Boucheron jewelry on 1stDibs.

Rooted in centuries of history of adornment dating back to the ancient world, modern jewelry reimagines traditional techniques, forms and materials for expressive new pieces. As opposed to contemporary jewelry, which responds to the moment in which it was created, modern jewelry often describes designs from the 20th to 21st centuries that reflect movements and trends in visual culture.

Modern jewelry emerged from the 19th-century shift away from jewelry indicating rank or social status. The Industrial Revolution allowed machine-made jewelry using electric gold plating, metal alloys and imitation stones, making beautiful jewelry widely accessible. Although mass production deemphasized the materials of the jewelry, the vision of the designer remained important, something that would be furthered in the 1960s with what’s known as the “critique of preciousness.”

A design fair called the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” brought global attention to the Art Deco style in 1925 and gathered a mix of jewelry artists alongside master jewelers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Mauboussin and Boucheron. Art Deco designs from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels unconventionally mixed gemstones like placing rock crystals next to diamonds while borrowing motifs from eclectic sources including Asian lacquer and Persian carpets. Among Cartier’s foremost design preoccupations at the time were high-contrast color combinations and crisp, geometric forms and patterns. In the early 20th century, modernist jewelers like Margaret De Patta and artists such as Alexander Calder — who is better known for his kinetic sculptures than his provocative jewelry — explored sculptural metalwork in which geometric shapes and lines were preferred over elaborate ornamentation.

Many of the innovations in modern jewelry were propelled by women designers such as Wendy Ramshaw, who used paper to craft her accessories in the 1960s. During the 1970s, Elsa Peretti created day-to-night pieces for Tiffany & Co. while designers like Lea Stein experimented with layering plastic, a material that had been employed in jewelry since the mid-19th century and had expanded into Bakelite, acrylics and other unique materials.

Find a collection of modern watches, bracelets, engagement rings, necklaces, earrings and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

Earrings are a timeless accessory. Women have been wearing studs and hoops in civilizations as far back as Ancient Egypt. Diamond drop earrings, pearl versions and other antique drop earrings have a long history as well.

While hoops will always be beautiful, drop earrings hold their own as dazzling accessories, and jewelry designers have explored different variations on this style of earring over time.

Although the term is often misapplied, true drop earrings are characterized by a long lean line ending in a pear-shaped stone that drops just below the earlobe. These accessories were popular in the Art Deco era, which encompassed the 1920s and ’30s and ushered in a very distinct look in jewelry design.

There were many influences on Art Deco jewelry; among them, the excavation of the tomb of King Tut in 1922. “Egyptomania” left an indelible mark on all of the major jewelry houses, from Cartier to Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and Georges Fouquet. Today, the popularity of long Art Deco drop earrings can be attributed to the influence of Coco Chanel. These earrings are frequently characterized by simple shapes, clean lines and an integration of colorful stones such as blue sapphires, emeralds and rubies to accent the pieces’ diamonds. Indeed, during the 20th century, as technology for diamond cutting improved, diamond drop earrings and other diamond jewelry came into wide popularity. Formal examples of diamond drop earrings pair perfectly with a cocktail dress or fancy pantsuit, while gem-set and gold drop earrings make great daytime accessories.

While there are at least several types of earrings you could be wearing right now, drop earrings work well for anyone who favors a minimalist look. Whatever the occasion, find a wide range of antique, diamond and pearl drop earrings on 1stDibs.