Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Beautiful Boucher Vintage Beaded Jewelry






I have been collecting Sherman rhinestones for a long time but when it comes to the crystal and beaded necklaces, Boucher and LeC are by far my favorite. Unfortunately, I don't know a heck of a lot about either company other than their beaded pieces are exquisite.  My understanding is that LeC was the Canadian branch of Boucher and operated out of Montreal as did Sherman.  

In this post, I will document the two lovely Boucher signed crystal parures I have collected.  The first is a double strand featuring amber colored multi-faceted crystal beads in graduated sizes each separated by tiny yellow spacer beads.  The clasps are magnificent, this one done in  shiny gold plate peppered with pave set yellow rhinestones. There is an additional rhinestone spacer that allows two different lengths, one a choker style, then a more relaxed fix when the rhinestone extender is used. The inside strand is 13" in length with an additional 3 1/4" of fold-over clasp and spacer.  

The matching earrings are circular clips featuring both beads and measure 7/8" in diameter.  

All pieces including the removable extender are clearly marked BOUCHER.

The second set today is remarkable made with the prettiest tear-drop shaped clear crystals. The necklace is very similar to the amber one except in a triple-strand design.  The pave set rhinestone clasp has the same removable extender and is set in shiny rhodium plate.  This one is more of a choker style with the inside crystal strand being 11 1/2" in length with a total additional length 4 1/2" when you include the fold-over clasp and extension.  

The matching bracelet is made using the same combination of unique shaped clear crystal beads in three strands that equal 1 1/4" in width.  The pave rhinestone clasp is an exact match to the necklace and there is a fold-over clasp with safety chain.  This bracelet will fasten to the necklace as an extender if desired.

The matching earrings are exquisite with pave set rhinestones at the lobe and in the cone shaped drops that connect to the beautiful unique crystals. Overall, these gorgeous earrings are shoulder dusters being 3" in length and are in excellent, unworn condition.

The earrings are unsigned, however, they still have the original Marcel Boucher hang tag with a price of $25.00 on the reverse.  I don't know if that was the price of the earrings on their own or of the entire parure.  

These are the only two Boucher signed beaded sets I have although I will be documenting my LeC jewelry in a future post.  For those of you who collect Sherman beaded parures, check out those made by Boucher and LeC.  If you love quality and weighty pieces, you will love these and they are usually priced much lower!



1 comment:

Jewelry St Louis said...

Awesome... these jewelries look so beautiful, its look nice to see and now a days these type of jewelries are more attractive.