Shop at the iconic Boucheron Place Vendôme in Paris and you might be invited to stay in the VIP guest suite
The newly restored 18th-century mansion has reopened in the French capital’s best-known jewellery destination
A gleaming necklace in Boucheron’s shop window in Place Vendôme in Paris features dozens of lifelike hydrangea blossoms made from mother-of-pearl and diamonds, framing a 43ct pink tourmaline.
Shoppers who enter the restored 18th-century mansion, which reopened this week after a sweeping restoration by parent Kering SA, can slip out with their purchases via a secret door through the lacquered panels of a Chinese-inspired selling room. High rollers who want to stay might even be invited to sleep in a VIP guest suite — operated by the Paris Ritz — featuring views of the Eiffel Tower from the bathtub.
“This is more than just a store opening for France,” said Boucheron’s CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, who joined the brand in 2015 after 17 years at Richemont’s Cartier. The Paris square is the world’s most prestigious jewellery destination — housing Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet and Chanel — and a pilgrimage has become de rigueur for fans of top-end pieces. “This story of the Place Vendôme is what we want to tell around the world.”
After a push into skateboarding wear and soccer brands such as Puma fell flat, Kering is trying to diversify within luxury at a time when targets for acquisition are scarce. A rapid comeback for its flagship brand Gucci, which rebooted with a new designer’s decadent look in 2015, drove shares in the group up 85 per cent last year alone. But the relentless pace of growth in Gucci’s two-year run has meant the company is more dependent on the brand than ever.
The group, helmed by the French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, is ramping up investment in jewellery, adding stores for Boucheron and a new high-end jewellery collection for Gucci, as well as expanding smaller fashion brands Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.
