Light armour: Boucheron’s Claire Choisne turns cape crusader

As the couture shows dominate Paris this week, fine jewellery houses take advantage to entice the moneyed fashion crowd by hosting covert viewings of one-of-a-kind masterpieces in secret locations. This year’s offering has one clear standout: a cape of gold, drawn and crafted entirely by hand by Boucheron.
The pattern, ‘made mostly of fine, twisted chains to resemble grosgrain, dictates the form’, reveals creative director Claire Choisne, the quietly spoken jewellery designer with a consistently big, bold vision. With no engineering software to aid the process, it took Choisne and her coterie of master craftsmen and women 70 hours to sketch out the pattern on a Stockman dummy. ‘The design is easy,’ she says. ‘It was the technique that was tricky.’ The graphic effect, of peacock feathers – a Boucheron house motif – was key because Choisne was keen to avoid an overly romantic result, preferring instead the notion of Joan of Arc in a coat of fine armour. ‘I liked the idea of chain mail, so I wanted the chains to be straight and supple but with just the right tension so that they shimmer as the body moves. Getting the right balance in that was a feat.’
The gold carapace, which took over 1,000 hours to complete, may not come with the cool price tag attached to diamonds, but it shines with virtuoso skill. Says Choisne: ‘Jewellery design is about the uniqueness of the idea; not the preciousness of the material.’
As originally featured in the July 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*208)
In creating this one-off gold piece, the transition from concept to a 3D jewel without the use of computer drawing was not easy, explains Boucheron creative director claire Choisne. ‘The round of the shoulder was the hardest part. The back was easy as it’s flat, but the shoulder chains had to move in a vertical direction to stay true to the pattern and move with the body’
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Boucheron website
Photography: Sophie Tajan
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Caragh McKay is a contributing editor at Wallpaper* and was watches & jewellery director at the magazine between 2011 and 2019. Caragh’s current remit is cross-cultural and her recent stories include the curious tale of how Muhammad Ali met his poetic match in Robert Burns and how a Martin Scorsese Martin film revived a forgotten Osage art.
-
Japan in Milan! See the highlights of Japanese design at Milan Design Week 2025
At Milan Design Week 2025 Japanese craftsmanship was a front runner with an array of projects in the spotlight. Here are some of our highlights
By Danielle Demetriou
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the world
Celebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
By Léa Teuscher
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
By Hannah Silver
-
Misho’s new AirPod earrings are stylish and practical
Six new styles of AirPod earrings make being plugged in a joy
By Hannah Silver
-
Boucheron wins Best Technical Triumph: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2021
The heavenly high jewellery collection from Boucheron showcases a dazzling level of technical know-how
By Hannah Silver
-
Fendi's golden gadgets are glamorous stocking fillers
The Roman house has teamed up with London accessories label Chaos on a range of tech jewellery accessories, including Air Pod holders and iPhone cases
By Laura Hawkins
-
Rashid Johnson unveils gender-fluid jewellery collection
Artist Rashid Johnson collaborates with Lizworks on a fine jewellery collection featuring artworks from his Anxious Men series. This article is a preview from Wallpaper's October 2020 issue, on newsstands from 17 September
By Tilly Macalister-Smith
-
Hear out: the brands giving a haute spin to sound accessories
Boucheron, Vibe Harsløf, FandD and Planet Beyond are bringing fine jewellery finesse to hearing devices and headphones
By Laura Hawkins
-
Scarf wit: art lovers can put their neck on the line for their favourite museums
By Rosa Bertoli
-
Victoria Beckham and Emily Young piece together fragmentary jewels
By Laura Hawkins
-
Art jewellery collection Gems and Ladders launches in London
By Elly Parsons