Real petals preserved for eternity: Boucheron's new high jewellery collection is a triumph of nature and technology

Computer Aided Design (CAD) – used to be a bit of a dirty word in the high jewellery industry. Formerly equated with mid-market products that could be churned out en masse, the computer program was the antithesis of the beautiful gouache sketches and hand-craftsmanship that are the hallmarks of real jewellery.

But all that has changed, as serious jewellery maisons realise that going digital – in certain areas – can help them create pieces more real to nature than ever before.

Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne has never been one to make things easy for her atelier. Rock crystal orbs have been hollowed out and filled with diamonds and gold like a ship in a bottle, huge question-mark necklaces (an iconic Boucheron design) get ever more intricate, and hard materials are carved to appear as soft as fresh foliage.

But with the latest high jewellery collection, Nature Triomphant, the house has gone even further. In an industry first, and with the help of a petal artist and some serious work from Boucheron’s research and innovation department, real flower petals are given eternal life in a set of nine extraordinary flower rings.

In a process which all those involved are, understandably, keeping close to their chests, petals are preserved – without pigment or chemicals – and applied to hyper-realistic titanium flower volumes, before being set with precious stones. 

Pivoine La Belle for example, has a heart of violet sapphire, titanium pistils that appear to be brushed with pollen, and pavé-set diamonds around the bud. Each ring is a masterpiece in its own right, and I can’t imagine that a single one of the nine wasn’t bought when on display in Paris.

High Jewellery from Paris Couture Week

An ivy necklace achieves its unbelievably true-to-life form through the digital scanning of an actual branch of ivy which was then used to entwine a model’s neck before being crafted in titanium. With the very veins of each leaf set in relief to the pavé-set diamond sections, each one sports a large diamond at its heart, while its ends are tipped with white cacholong – a type of opal – carved to look like they have been dipped in liquid frost.

The Nuage de Fleurs necklace is like something straight out of a fairy tale. A froth of tiny hydrangea flowers in pink gold, each one is lined with mother-of-pearl in the softest hues of pink, grey, and cream, their curling petals set with diamonds, and strands of dew-drop-like diamond dripping down.

Clasping the whole thing together is a 42.96-carat pink tourmaline in a soft, peachy hue, giving the whole thing the appearance of a real flower garland pinned with a precious brooch.

Elsewhere, nature gets the graphic treatment. The Fleur Graphique necklace sees an utterly realistic flower detailed with an art-deco-esque chevron pattern in black lacquer and white mother of pearl, its bud a cushion-cut Colombian emerald, the whole thing detachable from its beaded necklace.

Elsewhere in the collection are necklaces of delicate blue chalcedony that appear to be woven with diamonds, diamond cicadas on necklaces of pale chalcedony beads, and pendant earrings seemingly devoid of metal, consisting of dozens of diamonds dripping like rain suspended in time.

The collection may be called Nature Triomphant, but in this case, it seems that Boucheron has triumphed over all.