Place Vendôme – the jewellers' square in Paris

Boucheron chose the sunniest corner in 1893, Chaumet arrived in 1907, and Van Cleef & Arpels opened at number 22. Thus Place Vendôme in Paris became the world's most famous address for jewellery.

Place Vendôme in Paris's 1st arrondissement looks like a single building folded around a square. The façades are identical all the way round, and the chamfered corners make the rectangular square appear almost octagonal. In the centre stands a column of bronze. And on the ground floors, behind tall windows, lie some of the world's most famous jewellers. This guide tells the story of how it came to be.

A square dedicated to the glory of Louis XIV

The square was begun in 1698 as a monument to Louis XIV's armies and was first called Place des Conquêtes and later Place Louis-le-Grand. The site had previously belonged to the Duke of Vendôme, son of Henri IV and Gabrielle d'Estrées. The Marquis of Louvois wanted to build a square modelled on the Place des Vosges, but the money ran out. The king bought the land and commissioned Jules Hardouin-Mansart to design a façade that all plot buyers had to follow. Behind the façades, everyone could build as they wished. The financier John Law took over the project, and the square was completed around 1720 – at the same time as his paper money bubble burst.

In the middle of the square stood first an equestrian statue of the king, cast in one piece by François Girardon in 1699. It was destroyed during the revolution. All the house numbers and the history of the square can be found on VERA PI's page about Place Vendôme.

A column of cannons

Napoleon had the column erected between 1806–1810, modelled on Trajan's Column in Rome, to commemorate the victory at Austerlitz. It was clad with 425 bronze relief plates that, according to propaganda, had been cast from captured cannons. The statue at the top has been replaced several times. During the Paris Commune in 1871, the painter Gustave Courbet proposed that the column should be dismantled, and on 16 May 1871 it was torn down. The bronze plates were preserved, and the column was later re-erected.

Boucheron and the sunniest corner

Frédéric Boucheron founded his house in 1858 with a shop in the Galerie de Valois at the Palais-Royal. In 1893, he became the first jeweller to move to Place Vendôme. According to legend, he chose number 26 because it was the sunniest corner of the square – the diamonds in the window would sparkle more. Boucheron remains at the same address and is today owned by Kering. In 1928, the Maharaja of Patiala came to the shop with his gemstones to have them set.

Chaumet: Napoleon's jeweller at number 12

Chaumet is even older. Marie-Étienne Nitot founded the house in 1780 and became official jeweller to Napoleon I in 1804. Nitot made the jewellery for the emperor's wedding with both Joséphine and Marie-Louise. In 1907, the workshops and shop moved to Place Vendôme 12, where they have been located ever since. The building houses the head office, design studio and jewellery workshop, and Chaumet has been part of LVMH since 1999.

Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and the others

In 1906, Alfred Van Cleef and the Arpels brothers opened their first shop at Place Vendôme 22. Louis-François Cartier settled at rue de la Paix number 13, the street that starts at the square and runs towards the Opéra, around the turn of the century in 1900. After them came Mauboussin in 1955, Bulgari, Repossi and Mikimoto in 1986 and Fred in 1999, according to French Wikipedia. Charles Frederick Worth, the father of haute couture, was the first to open a fashion house on rue de la Paix.

The square isn't just about jewellery, though. At number 13 is the French Ministry of Justice in the Hôtel de Bourvallais, and at number 15 is the Ritz Paris, which we cover in a separate feature. The Republic of Texas once had its legation at number 1.

How to see the square at its best

Enter from rue Saint-Honoré via rue de Castiglione so that the column and the square open up before you. Walk a lap around the square and notice how the façades are identical even though the buildings behind them are completely different. Finish northwards along rue de la Paix towards Palais Garnier. More streets in the neighbourhood can be found on VERA PI's page about the 1st arrondissement, and the fashion streets in the 8th arrondissement in our guide to avenue Montaigne and Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

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