8 Things You Should Know About René Boivin

For those of you who followed “The Curious Case of the Zendaya Spider Brooch,” I am delighted to report Spidey has had a homecoming. While I don’t know the itinerary of how he made it back to David Webb in New York City, my story for AirMail linked here tells you about where he went.

The whole scenario got me thinking about the mystery author Cherie Burns manufactured around the Boivin starfish brooches made in the mid-1930s. Totally different situation, but there was similar tension.

For her book, Diving for Starfish, Cherie tried to track down the original starfish brooches, that were not missing. She just wanted to know where they were, acting like a detective, interrogating innocent jewelry dealers about private information involving sales and collectors.

At first, I thought I would repost my takedown of her mean-spirited error-filled publication from 2018. Then I thought, why waste the space when I am actually more interested in Boivin’s little-known story, which has been slowly heating up.

On January 25, The New York Times published a lengthy article by jewelry expert Tina Isaac-Goizé about the relaunch of the Parisian House under the direction of Thomas Torroni-Levene and Olivier Baroin.

A few months later, on May 28, a new 915-square-foot Boivin boutique opened at 25 rue Royale where vintage designs and new iterations are presented side by side. The firm also creates certificates of authenticity for Boivin jewels, which like Belperron were not always signed by the House, just the manufacturer.

Since then, Boivin has not kept the public posted on the inventory or their activities in the modern way on Instagram. And there are only a few jewels on the website. They could be operating under the old-fashioned jeweler’s code of discretion. From the critic’s reviews I have gleaned online, the space has received raves.

According to The New York Times story, a Boivin book by jewelry historian Juliet Weir-de la Rochefoucauld is being published by ACC Art Books this fall. Unfortunately, I don’t see any sign of the publication online, which has me a bit worried. Generally, a fall book would be available for pre-order by now.

A new Boivin publication is desperately needed. The last one, written by Françoise Cailles and released in 1994, is one of the most expensive jewelry books on the secondhand market. The only copy I could find costs nearly $7,000. (That figure is not a typo.)

In lieu of activities from the new Boivin, and while we wait for Juliet’s book, I have assembled several of my favorite signature Boivin highlights including designs by Suzanne Belperron, who began her career at the House and worked there for 13 years, and Juliette Moutard, who was a Boivin designer for almost 40 years. The jewels these women conceived under the direction of Jeanne Boivin were adored by style icons Daisy Fellowes, Millicent Rogers, Marlene Dietrich and Hélène Rochas among others.