Boucheron’s Lierre de Paris: An Ivy Motif Reworked in White Gold and Diamonds

Boucheron has returned to one of the most persistent motifs in its archive with a new interpretation of Lierre de Paris, translating ivy into nine pieces of white gold and diamond jewelry. Designed by Creative Director Claire Choisne, the collection moves away from the oversized high-jewelry interpretations of recent years and considers the plant at a more intimate scale, allowing its leaves and stems to follow the body.

Ivy has been part of Boucheron’s visual language since the 19th century. It appeared in the maison’s archives in 1870 and was chosen by Frédéric Boucheron for the design of the first Question Mark necklace in 1879. The necklace was subsequently brought to life by Boucheron’s artisans in 1881. The plant continued to appear in different forms through the decades, including fine gold interpretations in the 1920s and a more sculptural Lierre de Paris high jewelry collection in 2012.

Choisne’s latest interpretation is less about reproducing an archival motif than reconsidering what ivy can do as jewelry. The plant is naturally irregular. Its stems bend, leaves turn in different directions and its growth is not governed by symmetry. That gives the designer considerable freedom to move the motif across the body rather than confining it to a conventional jewelry format.

The new collection comprises three rings, a pendant, a flexible necklace, two pairs of earrings and brooches that can also be worn in the hair. All are made in white gold and diamonds, with the pieces designed to be worn individually, layered or positioned in different ways.

The rings are particularly direct in their treatment of the motif. The collection includes a small ring, a medium version and a two-finger ring, with ivy leaves extending across the fingers rather than sitting as a conventional central stone arrangement. The leaves become the principal form, allowing the hand itself to act as the structure through which the ivy appears to grow.

The small ring can be paired with a matching pendant, creating a coordinated set without making either piece dependent on the other. It is a useful distinction in a collection that is designed around freedom of placement rather than traditional parure dressing.

The necklace takes that idea further. Without a conventional clasp, it is designed to remain flexible and wrap around the neck like an ivy branch. Instead of establishing a fixed front and back, the necklace can follow the contours of the wearer, giving the leaves a more organic relationship with the body.

That flexibility is central to the collection. Boucheron has designed the pieces so that the wearer determines how the ivy climbs, wraps or spreads. The jewelry can remain relatively restrained or be layered to create a denser composition.

The earrings take two different approaches. One pair is asymmetrical and designed as clips, while another takes the form of pendant earrings. Both continue the idea that ivy does not need to sit in a conventional symmetrical arrangement. The leaves can appear to climb along the ear, extend below it or create different silhouettes depending on how the pieces are worn.

The brooches bring another practical dimension to the collection. Designed with a spiral fastening system, they can be worn individually or together and can be placed on clothing or in the hair. The same botanical form therefore moves between jewelry and adornment without requiring a change in its basic construction.

The technical work lies in making the plant appear less like a representation of ivy and more like ivy translated into metal. Each leaf is individually shaped, with openwork veins allowing light to pass through the structure. The surfaces are entirely pavé-set with diamonds, while a round diamond at the center of each leaf adds another point of light.

The openwork is particularly important. A solid metal leaf would make the pieces considerably heavier visually and would flatten the botanical reference. By cutting away the spaces between the veins, Boucheron creates a lighter structure in which the diamonds can catch light from multiple directions.

The gold itself is also manipulated to suggest movement. Curved sections of white gold form the stems, while the leaves are positioned at different angles. The result is not a rigid botanical motif but a series of components that appear to have grown rather than been arranged according to a strict geometric grid.

That distinction reflects the nature of the plant itself. Ivy is persistent and adaptable, attaching itself to walls, trees and other surfaces and continuing to spread. In Boucheron’s jewelry, that behavior becomes a design principle. The pieces are not static compositions. They extend, wrap, climb and overlap.

The collection also continues a long-running conversation between Boucheron’s archive and contemporary high jewelry. Ivy has appeared repeatedly throughout the maison’s history, but its treatment has changed according to the aesthetic and technical possibilities of each period. The fine gold lines of the 1920s were very different from the larger sculptural leaves of the 2012 Lierre de Paris collection, while the motif appeared again in the 2025 and 2026 Histoire de Style collections.

The new pieces bring the motif closer to the body. Rather than creating a single spectacular statement necklace, the collection distributes the ivy across rings, ears, neck, clothing and hair. This makes the idea of the plant more apparent because it can be encountered in several different scales.

There is also a useful tension between the natural reference and the precision required to make it. Ivy may appear uncontrolled in nature, but reproducing that sense of irregular growth in high jewelry demands considerable control. Every curve, leaf position, openwork vein and diamond setting has to be resolved before the final piece can achieve an impression of spontaneity.

That is perhaps where the collection is most successful. The craftsmanship is not being used to make the ivy look perfectly symmetrical. It is being used to preserve its irregularity while ensuring that every element functions as a piece of jewelry.

Lierre de Paris therefore sits comfortably within Boucheron’s long history of translating nature into precious materials, but the new pieces are less concerned with botanical realism than with movement. The leaves are recognizable, yet the collection is really about how they travel across the body.

In white gold and diamonds, the familiar ivy motif becomes almost linear, with flashes of light appearing along the stems and leaves as they move. The result is a collection that connects one of Boucheron’s oldest botanical references with a distinctly contemporary way of wearing high jewelry.

Brand Website: Boucheron