Boucheron Donates “Experimental” High Jewel to London’s V&A Museum

By Annie Davidson Watson | February 23, 2026

Boucheron has donated the rock crystal Faisceaux brooch from its experimental high jewelry series Carte Blanche to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). It is the first Carte Blanche piece to enter a museum’s permanent collection.

Since 2020, Boucheron has utilized its Carte Blanche collections to test new technologies and nontraditional materials, contrasting with its Histoire de Style high jewelry line that focuses on the brand’s historical archives. Featuring diamonds and rose gold along with holographic rock crystal, the Faisceaux brooch dates to 2021, from the Carte Blanche collection called Holographique.

The piece is notable for the unconventional approach to materials in its design. An iridescent finish was created by spraying a fine coating of metallic powders onto the rock crystal at high temperatures. This treatment allows the stone to act as a prism, diffracting light into a range of colors. The design also uses crystal’s natural properties for a magnifying effect and sense of depth on the diamond-encrusted motif inside a hollowed-out crystal.

“It’s an honor to see the Faisceaux brooch entering London’s prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum,” said Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne in a statement. “This rock crystal jewel embodies the V&A’s values of cultural heritage, innovation, and artistic excellence in every respect.

“Beyond being a piece of high jewelry, it epitomizes Boucheron’s creative vision—to push back the boundaries of craftsmanship and redefine the relationship between light and matter. I’m confident it will prove a worthy addition to the museum’s collection, as much in tune with the past as with the future of artistic expression.”

The Faisceaux brooch will be exhibited in the V&A’s jewelry galleries, joining a dozen other Boucheron creations that span nearly 170 years of the jeweler’s work—from early plique-à-jour enamel pieces to this modern study in transparency and optics.

(Photo courtesy of Boucheron)

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