Marcel Boucher (1898 – 1965) was born in Paris. At the end of the war, Boucher got a job as an apprentice at the Cartier jewelry house, and so began the career of a great jeweler.
He worked in Paris for several years and already in 1922 received an offer to take the post of designer in the New York office of the Cartier house. The crisis of the Great Depression of 1929 did not bypass the Cartier house. Boucher had to change jobs, but luck smiled on him, and the new job, as well as private orders, allowed him to feel comfortable.
In the 1930s, Boucher began collaborating with the Mazer company and created a collection of buckles and masquerade jewelry for them. Boucher’s creativity, opportunities and reputation prompted him to found his own company, Marcel Boucher and Cie Company NY, in 1937. The Great Depression forced the public to change tastes and preferences, and designers seriously reconsidered the materials used for jewelry, which should have become much cheaper and more accessible.
In the 1940s, during World War II, Boucher moved his production to Mexico. After the end of the war, Boucher returned to New York, the new collections created by the jeweler were more feminine, more elegant, he successfully applied both the techniques of creating jewelry from precious metals and stones, and new knowledge from the field of costume jewelry.
In creating jewelry, Boucher used only the best materials, enamels and crystals. The House of Boucher became famous for its three-dimensional brooches of birds and flowers, a ballet series, as well as unique ear jewelry.
Boucher’s jewelry has always been distinguished by its unique jewelry quality. . In 1965, after the death of Marcel Boucher, the company was run by his wife Sandra, also a designer, like Boucher himself. In 1979, Boucher was taken over by D’Orlan Industries of Toronto, a Canadian company. The markings of the jewelry were changed to “d’Orlan”.
Markings:
From 1937 to 55 jewelry was marked Marboux and MB, from 1950 to 1955. Boucher.
From 1955 to 1971 – Boucher and copyright sign.
Also, the company had original markings by numbers, which were used with or without a name. Numbers: 2300 – 2350 since 1945, 2351 – 2450 since 1946, 2451 – 2550 since 1947, 2551 – 2750 since 1948, 2751 – 3000 since 1949, 3001 – 4500 since 1950.
Since 1955, the numbers have been affixed along with the copyright symbol: 7802 + since 1960, 8291+ since 1962, 9100+ since 1965. Also, the letters “P” (on brooches) and “E” (on earrings) were added to the numbers.
