How Boucheron Is Pivoting During The Pandemic: A Chat With CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne

Photo Credit: Boucheron

Today, Haute Living sat down with Helene Poulit-Duquesne, the CEO of Parisian-based fine jewelry and watch brand. At Boucheron — which is part of the Kering group — the first of the great contemporary jewelers to open a boutique on Place Vendôme, she pursues the growth of the Maison on an international scale and focuses on strengthening its position among the most prestigious jewelers in the world. Here, Helene shares what’s next for the brand, how its pivoting during the pandemic and what fans of the brand can expect in the year to come.

Photo Credit: Boucheron

How are you showing pieces if your clients cannot make it to Paris at this time?

For the clients… we developed a new selling ceremony in Vendome particularly to present to our VIPs. Selecting some pieces that we know may suit them and present to them through Zoom. It’s working, we’ve been selling pieces, but it works when you know your clients because you have an existing relationship. It has to be very organized because you’re less concentrated… and it has to be quick because sometime the clients want to see the details, but they don’t want to spend hours on Zoom. So we’ve had to adapt… And if the clients cannot travel, then the collection is going to be sent to them; the collection is going to travel. So for the first time, the collection is moving  — it has left to the South of France, then it will has left a red to the south of France, then it will go to Asia. The team locally will explain the collections to [journalists and press]; we’ll have adapt locally, but all the different companies are doing the same because this is an exceptional situation. 

Photo Credit: Boucheron

What is the biggest challenge that your industry faces at the moment?

The most important challenge for all of the industry today is that the client cannot move. Until they can move, we’re going to have a big problem. Place Vendome is empty, and at this time of the year, typically London, Geneva and Paris are full of tourists, people browsing around, and we don’t have any today. I think this is going to be a difficult period until we all can travel again. So I think it’s going to be the most challenging because in fact the consumption is booming butt is blue locally, which is a good news. We have to organize ourselves so that we have the right pieces at the right place in the right country and all of that has to be organized. I think the jewelry industry is one of the most resilient industries in the world because we are working with basically gold and diamonds. It has investment value. You never throw away a jewel. You will give it to your daughter, she will give to her daughter… That is why during a crisis, our industry is super resilient. We may have difficulty for a time, but I hope this is going to be proof of the resilience of our industry in the months to come. 

Photo Credit: Boucheron

What is the vibe in Paris right now?

Paris is back to Parisians. They’re not wearing a lot of masks, which for me is not good at all… but our president has asked all French people to wear masks as of today… Basically I think that people do not look afraid, they look quite happy post-confinement and after the lockdown. But the city is super Parisian — we don’t have any tourists — so it’s Paris for the Parisian people.

Photo Credit: Boucheron

Watch our chat with Boucheron CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne below!