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Albert Boghossian visited the Taj Mahal for the first time at the age of 18. He had just started working in his family’s jewelry business and he remembers being fascinated by the beauty and scale of the monument. It was at that moment that he decided that there was no higher form of art than architecture: “I have always been amazed at how artisans were able to create beauty from resistant materials like stone.”
Winter Roses gold bracelet, yellow diamonds, prasiolite and rubellite, POA
Golden Dragon gold and diamond bracelet, POA
Palaces, historically the ultimate display of wealth and power, are often the most extravagant expressions of this art form. “They are architecturally significant for their history, but also for the captivating, contrasting colors you see in them,” Boghossian says. “They project a lot of complexity, balance, craftsmanship and fantasy. I thought all this could translate wonderfully into jeweler’s – it is a very rich material to work with.”
Pianoforte Melody earrings in white and yellow gold and diamonds, POA
Verdant Waves Gold, Yellow Diamond and Green Tourmaline Necklace, POA
boghossianPalace Voyages’ fine jewelry collection is based on some of the most impressive residences in the world. The Grand Palace in Bangkok inspires a bracelet made with diamonds in the shape of a kite, trapezoid and square; Sanssouci of Potsdam reports a necklace with a spiderweb of square-cut diamonds; and in the Alhambra in Granada you can see a wooden ceiling that inspires a necklace that goes from white to yellow. “From the City Palace of Jaipur, we chose two doors: one that had a wonderful mix of colors that we interpreted into a necklace with a bold mix of deep yellow diamonds and green tourmalines, and the second, which has this incredible floral pattern, was turned it into a bracelet with rubellites carved on top of prasiolites.”
Seven Realms gold and diamond necklace, POA
Amba Arches bracelet in gold, yellow diamond, aquamarine, turquoise, chrysoprase and red spinel, POA
The cross-country journey is also a tribute to Boghossian’s own family history: Ovaness Boghossian founded the business in Armenia in 1868 before moving to Aleppo, Syria, in the early 20th century, and then to Beirut, Lebanon, where Albert , the current CEO and his brother Jean were born. They eventually settled in Geneva, where Dalia, Ralph and Roberto Boghossian, the sixth generation of jewelers, run the business together with Albert.
The collection took four years to complete and encompasses 70 pieces. “Almost all of them were complicated to make; everything required special cuts, special carvings, special inlay work; nothing was easy,” adds Boghossian. “It really was a work of art.”