Style Edit: Celebrating 20 years of Boucheron’s Quatre with dazzling new designs

A symbol of strength for 20 years, Boucheron’s Quatre jewellery collection began with a ring that grants all wearers the freedom to express their own individual style. It’s a band of power – or rather four bands coming together as one – and unlike Tolkien’s magical trio of rings bound in darkness, the French luxury jeweller ingeniously binds four of its historic codes in glorious, precious light.

As Boucheron celebrates the 20th anniversary of a ring designed to represent everyone’s uniqueness, it shines a light on how society has progressed over the past two decades and how Quatre has embraced this change. While staying true to its original essence, the collection has evolved to encompass bracelets, necklaces and earrings that are variously playful and audacious, technologically savvy and sustainable, and unabashedly ultra-luxe.

Colourwise, there have been White editions and Black editions as well as vibrant Red and Blue. Groundbreaking capsule collections have cast denim alongside gold and diamonds, or included lightweight aluminium and resin, holographic-coated ceramic for a shimmering finish, or Cofalit, an upcycled industrial waste. The recent Double White edition merged white gold and white HyCeram, a ceramic hybrid.

Boucheron conceived Quatre as an innovative contemporary urban design that would transcend genders, boundaries and conventions; 20 years on, the world has reached the same page.

Using 13.88 grams of gold, the Quatre ring born in 2004 harks back to the heritage of the house, founded in 1858 by visionary designer Frédéric Boucheron. Infused with the brand’s key codes, it united four motifs in one jewel that can be worn as a singular strong statement or stacked for exuberant expression.

Grounding the ring is the Double Godron, two fluted bands melded together in a nod to eternal love and Boucheron’s architecture-inspired designs. Next, a jewelled interpretation of the Clou de Paris pattern recalls the cobblestones of Place Vendôme – in 1893, Boucheron was the first of the great contemporary jewellers to open in the grandiose Paris square.

These two hobnail-like rows of matt facets are then juxtaposed with a circle of mirror-set diamonds, the third code, which reflects the brilliance of the house’s high jewellery creations. A band of ribbed gold completes the ring, echoing a silky grosgrain ribbon and the role of couture in inspiring Boucheron’s supple, delicate jewellery.