1970s Boucheron "Bumblebee" Cocktail Watch 18K YG W/ Black Enamel

Boucheron is a brand with extremely deep roots in fine jewelry since the first store opened in 1858 at the Galerie de Valois in Paris. The legacy of the Maison began with Frederic Boucheron, who initially opened the shop by humbly selling jewelry crafted by various artists, however, the nature of Boucheron changed when Frederic opened his first workshop in 1866 and immediately began winning awards for illustrious jewelry designs. Rapidly rising to the equivalency of Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Tiffany & Co., Boucheron quickly expanded with stores opening all over Europe, Asia, and even the United States.

While it is extremely uncommon for fine jewelry houses to make a significant mark in the watch industry, apart from the few aforementioned market leaders, Boucheron entered the space with its first line of wristwatches in 1885. However, it wasn't until after the Second World War, under the helm of Louis Boucheron (Frederic's son), that the Maison would enter the watch market with force. Debuting in 1947, the Boucheron Reflect was a new concept in wristwatches, featuring true innovation melded with Art Deco and Mid-Century design. The Reflect introduced a proprietary and patented strap system that integrated directly into a sliding barrel within the curved rectangular case, this allowed for seemingly quick interchangeability between different straps and bracelet options. After the Reflect, Boucheron continued to innovate and created another patented strap system under the patent number BT7023160 in 1970, like the example on the featured timepiece, which is an adjustable leather strap system that greatly reduces the bulkiness of the more common deployant clasp system of the era.

Boucheron was aware that its strength was in the design of jewelry and not the complexities of watchmaking, so by partnering with notable Swiss watch movement manufacturers they could focus all their efforts on the creation of unique watch case and bracelet concepts. Most early Boucheron wristwatches will feature an Omega heartbeat, however on rare occasions, other Swiss manufacturers would lend their movements, such as Ulysses Nardin, which is employed in the example presently available.