Palace Voyages, the latest high jewellery from Boghossian, takes fine jewellery fans on a fantastical royal trip around the world.
The family-owned high jewellery brand regularly turns to the historic Silk Road for inspiration, and the Palace Voyages collection is no exception. It references 14 historical grand palaces found along the East-to-West route, which extends from China to England, with 70 pieces of exquisite jewellery. The collection is an evocation of a voyage through time, from one point in history to another, exploring the art and cultural traditions of these opulent royal residences.
The new collection also pays tribute to the jewellery house’s unique family history and its journey from East to West. The 151-year saga of the family-run jewellery house began with founder Ovaness Boghossian who first set up his business in the heart of the Silk Road in 1868 before future generations moved to Aleppo, Syria, in the early 20th century, and then to Beirut, Lebanon, before settling in Geneva, Switzerland. Today the jewellery house is run by CEO Albert Boghossian alongside his nephews Roberto, Ralph and his daughter Dalia.
Palace Voyages, designed by Albert and Boghossian’s creative director, Edmond Chin, took four years to complete and every piece was created using very complex laborious cutting, special carving and special inlay work, resulting in jewellery which is considered more works of art rather than just precious accessories. With Palace Voyages, Albert entrusted Chin with the task of transcribing the brand’s beautiful journeys into fine jewellery. The result is an ode to the soul of the jewellery house.
Starting in China, the Qianlong Palace, which is situated within the Forbidden City and built to be the retirement retreat of the Qianlong Emperor, serves as the inspiration behind a stunning necklace made with jade, diamonds and pearls. The design interprets the classical Chinese motif of a flowering branch. Accompanying the necklace is a jade and diamond cuff bracelet that utilises marquetry work to emulate dark wood lattices and silk panels.
From Thailand, The Grand Palace in Bangkok with its traditional glass roof and gold leaf tiles, inspires two pieces for the new collection – a pair of shimmering earrings and a bracelet. Both creations feature yellow and white diamonds to reflect the jewel’s spectacular glitter, as well as serving as motifs that emulate the mythological Thai Naga or dragon heads.
From Indonesia, Chin and his team look towards the 18th-century Taman Sari, known as the “Garden of Flowers”, to express Boghossian’s innovative technical expertise. Two pieces – a pair of tasselled earrings and a necklace – fluidly weave together precious gemstones like running water. Taman Sari was built as a series of buildings and pavilions on the site of a bathing spring used by the Yogyakarta Sultans. Using Paraiba tourmalines, interspersed with marquise diamonds, the exquisite necklace echoes the fluid motion of water drops across the body while the earrings, featuring tassels of flowing baguette diamonds and emeralds, represent the movement of water, held by heart-shaped emeralds arranged in a flower motif.
Granada’s Alhambra (meaning red fort or palace) in Spain sees a wooden ceiling inspiring a necklace that fades from white to yellow diamonds. On the necklace, the diamonds of varying shapes, from a single brilliant-cut diamond drop in the centre to a design with seven yellow diamonds towards the nape of the neck, evoke the seven realms of heaven through which a soul must pass before reaching the eight level, paradise. Boghossian’s skilled artisans also created a magnificent ring with a radiant tanzanite at the centre, symbolising the sombre skies behind the Alhambra’s illuminated edifice.
From France, Petit Trianon in Versailles, which was Louis XVI’s gift to his new wife Marie-Antoinette, inspired a ribbon-shaped necklace made up of baguette cut diamonds with an ornamental detail featuring multi-coloured diamonds. The diamonds are inlaid within mother-of-pearls and arranged in layers using Boghossian’s innovative signature Kissing Technique, wherein precious gems appear to embrace in a delicate dance, each one chosen to complement and enhance the other’s colour and beauty.
Boghossian opened its first flagship shop on Rue du Rhône in Geneva in 2008, followed by a second in London in 2013, before extending its network internationally, with other outlets in London, New York, Hong Kong, Monaco, and Gstaad – strategic locations to cater to its discerning and well-heeled customers. The family is now renowned for its knowledge of rare stones and ancient jewellery-making techniques, including the Art of the Inlay, the Kissing Technique, and the patented Merveilles Design. Its one-off pieces, aimed at jewellery collectors and connoisseurs worldwide, have sometimes reached world records at auction.
Palace Voyages will arrive in Hong Kong in August for private viewings. Interested clients can take a closer look at the collection at Boghossian’s boutique located at Prince’s Building in Central by making private appointments.
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