Founded in 1858 by Frédéric Boucheron, the house of Boucheron has conducted, first from the Palais-Royal and then from the Place Vendôme, an uninterrupted dialogue between jewellery and watchmaking. In 1893, Frédéric Boucheron became the first of the great jewellers to settle on the Place Vendôme, at no. 26, choosing its sunniest corner so that the diamonds in his window would sparkle. Echoing this dual tradition of jeweller-watchmaker came, in 1947, the launch of the Reflet: the house’s emblematic watch, fitted with an attachment system patented by Boucheron as early as 1944 – the strap, with no “spring bar” or traditional spring, slides directly into the case, allowing an instant, tool-free change. Édith Piaf, who made it her talisman from 1948 onwards, acquired more than twenty of them up to 1963, most of them to give as gifts.
At the turn of the 1970s, the golden age of the Parisian dress watch, Boucheron applied this attachment system to square or rectangular cases with exceptionally refined finishes. It was the era of “all-gold guilloché”: Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget vied with one another in ingenuity in working precious metal. The Boucheron Carrée fully embraces this grammar and pushes it to a rare degree: the “Clous de Paris” pattern – small four-sided pyramids produced by guilloché engraving – is applied not only around the sides of the case but also, more unusually still, across the entire dial, for a striking textural effect that changes with the angle of the light.
The example we are pleased to offer is a superb illustration of it. The 18-carat yellow gold case measures 25 × 25 mm excluding the lugs, and 25 × 32 mm including them. Inside are the lozenge-shaped “JP” hallmark and a number: these are the marks of Jules Person, one of the great Parisian master case-makers of the 20th century, whose signature regularly accompanied the watch creations of the Place Vendôme houses. The surfaces alternate “Clous de Paris” guilloché on the flanks and around the bezel, horizontal satin finishing on the caseback and mirror-polished edges – the consistency and finesse of the whole bear witness to a goldsmith’s craftsmanship. The “eagle’s head” hallmark guaranteeing 18-carat gold appears several times on the case middle.
The dial, entirely guilloché with a yellow gold “Clous de Paris” pattern continuing that of the bezel that frames it, is animated by two slender gold baton hands and displays absolute purity – no hour markers, no minute track, no visible signature –, fully intentional for a piece of jewellery in which the mechanics remain discreet. The mineral glass, cut as a truncated pyramid with bevelled facets, multiplies the view of the dial and echoes the hobnail pattern that structures the whole.
The movement is a Swiss manual-winding ETA 2512 caliber, stamped “ABF” and signed Boucheron on the bridge. A small caliber of 7.75 lignes, with 17 jewels, 21,600 vibrations per hour and a 42-hour power reserve, its indirect motion-work architecture allows a larger-than-average balance and barrel, guarantees of precision and long-term reliability. It has been fully overhauled by one of our experienced watchmakers and runs perfectly.
The piece is delivered on a navy blue leather strap, fitted to the 18-carat yellow gold attachments signed Boucheron and hallmarked JP, like the case. This is the critical element of this patented system: leather being by nature a consumable, the value lies in the original metal parts, here perfectly preserved – upper attachment and lower buckle, both signed and hallmarked.
A piece of Parisian horological jewellery in the purest 20th-century tradition, signed at every link of its production chain – Boucheron for the design, Jules Person for the case, ETA for the movement, and the Place Vendôme for the culture that unites them –, this Carrée is a particularly accomplished example of one of the most elegant configurations the house offered in the 1970s.
