Out With the Boys, In With The Girls

PARIS, July 5, 2006 – Today the girls replaced the boys on the runway, as the first day of the haute couture shows officially kicked off. During the night, a powerful thunderstorm rumbled through Paris, ushering in cooler and drier air. The level of civility in the French capital also changed with the improved meteorologic conditions.

One of the world’s premier Jewelers, Boucheron on Place Vendôme, invited Christine and I to see their new line, “Exquises Confidences”, unveiled in private salons on the second floor. Our guide was so taken with Christine that she had guards open the padlocked display cases (one had never before been touched) so that we could lay hands on the most regal set of brooches, necklaces and earrings that can be imagined. My favorite was a pattern of diamonds with dime-sized emeralds reminiscent of the “peacock tiara” once worn by Empress Farah Pahlavi to a State Dinner at the Kennedy White House in 1962.

Boucheron left nothing to chance, bathing their crystal chandeliers in chartreuse lighting and placing magenta spots on long cylindrical vases where long-stemmed pink roses were submerged in water. The new collection of watches was presented in a series of coupes filled with crystal caviar.

When it comes to style and finesse – the French always get it right!

– Timothy Hagy