When it comes to exceptional jewellery, Place Vendôme is the place. And there isn’t a jewellery house there that doesn’t lay claim to being the first to open its doors at the grand Parisian luxury hub. Boucheron, Chaumet, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels are among the glittering names whose windows are filled with exquisite examples of exceptional fine and high jewellery (haute joaillerie is typically one-of-a-kind pieces made with the most precious of materials). With Hotel Ritz situated right there, it’s hardly surprising it was such an alluring option. The Ritz and Boucheron landed in the square around the same time, in the early 1890s. Soon to be followed by Cartier, Chaumet and Van Cleef & Arpels.
As international took off at the turn of the century, even more prestigious clients would make it their must-visit destination. Boucheron counted royalty from across the globe to its store at No. 26. Monsieur Boucheron chose number 26 Place Vendôme for its strategic location between the new Opéra Garnier district and the Tuileries Gardens, where the upper middle classes enjoyed the area’s burgeoning opportunities: such as leisure and fashionable boutiques.
The building itself, at the corner of Rue de la Paix, featured Boucheron in capitals, engraved in fine gold lettering. And would pave the way for Place Vendôme becoming known as the Mecca of French jewellery it is today.
Completed in 1699 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the airy square had been built to surround and show off the then-ruler Louis XIV, a statue of which sat in the middle. It had been under his orders that the square was built. Napoleon would replace the state of the king in 1792, when it was dismantled and a bronze column erected. Originally, the site had been one of political, not luxury diamond, prowess. Though one can see a link between the two.
Bonaparte’s wife, Empress Josephine, was muse to Chaumet and made popular the wearing of tiaras.
Elsa Schiaparelli would, a lot later, move in with a boutique. Though known more for her surreal fashion creations, today her successor Daniel Roseberry draws on surrealism in jewellery to exemplify the brand.
Further contemporary additions include Louis Vuitton, which moved in during 2017 at No.2, Gucci’s fine and high jewellery boutique at No.16, as well as Chinese jeweller Qeelin.
