At Boucheron, a Necklace From 1974 Inspires New Designs

By Amy Elliott | March 20, 2025

Boucheron connoisseurs will immediately recognize the hallmarks of its iconic Serpent Bohème design whenever its distinctive droplet motif—evocative of a snake’s head—pops up in a new collection. The first Serpent Bohème jewels, with their snakeskin-like textured goldwork, coiling bypass silhouettes, and cabochon gems, debuted in 1968 (pictured below). And those inaugural design elements have left an enduring breadcrumb trail for subsequent Boucheron pieces and collections ever since, much to the delight of curious and in-the-know Boucheron admirers alike.

Boucheron Serpent Boheme 1968 — *Serpent Boheme ring and earrings from 1968*

One such jewel is the Serpent Bohème sautoir necklace from 1974 (pictured below). Sunny and bold, it dangles a wonderfully robust pendant with the snake-head motif transformed into flower petals. A striking combination of vibrant coral and onyx appears not on just the blossom itself but also on the chain.

Boucheron Serpent boheme 1974 necklace — *This Serpent Bohème necklace from 1974 is part of a private collection.*

Boucheron creative director Claire Choisne was inspired to create a new series based on several of the archival necklace’s design elements. Enter Serpent Bohème Vintage, Choisne’s reimagining of the 1974 creation as a unique vision of modern glamour.

BOUCHERON SP VINTAGE sautoir — *The Serpent Bohème Vintage necklace in yellow gold and pavé diamonds (price on request) took a total of 118 hours of work to complete.*

Choisne saw potential for expanding the 1974 necklace’s concept to include new ways of wearing the design, from hoop earrings that borrow the blossom pendant’s basic structure to a bracelet that incorporates the archival necklace’s links (more streamlined this time, and reworked to be a bit boxier).

The new pieces retain the original necklace’s exuberance but lean into the glamour more intently with an abundance of brilliant-cut pavé diamonds that enliven the revised shapes and patterns to glorious effect.

BOUCHERON SP VINTAGE cuff bracelets — This cuff bracelet in yellow gold and pavé diamonds (price on request) is the hero piece of the Serpent Bohème Vintage collection, borrowing the floral motif from a 1974 necklace and mounting it on a background of a brushed gold. It took 106 hours of work to complete; we love the irreverent grandeur of piling two on the same wrist.

The proportions of certain jewels in the Serpent Bohème Vintage series remain unapologetically exaggerated (as in the cuffs above), but there are also more everyday-wearable pieces, like the earrings pictured below (nearly eclipsed in the photo by the statement rings!), which treat the link as a motif in its own right.

BOUCHERON SP VINTAGE rings — *Serpent Bohème Vintage double-finger rings and “sleeper earrings” in yellow gold and pavé diamonds (prices on request)*

You can see the link treatment more clearly in these chain necklaces:

BOUCHERON SP VINTAGE chain — *Serpent Bohème Vintage links necklace, worn in a layered group of three, and ring in yellow gold with pavé diamonds (prices on request)*

There is so much floral imagery in Serpent Bohème Vintage that you almost forget the serpentine origins of Serpent Bohème (the one from 1968). But you have only to look at the goldwork of these newest pieces for a reminder: The vestiges of the origin story are revealed in the jewels’ tactile surfaces and shimmering scale patterns.

Considering that 2025 is the Year of the Snake, the timing of this debut could not be more apropos…

Top: Infused with 1970s esprit but decidedly modern—Serpent Bohème Vintage hoop earrings in yellow gold with pavé diamonds, price on request

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