The Kissing Diamonds technique is a proprietary setting method developed by the Geneva-based high jewellery house Boghossian, in which diamonds or coloured gemstones are bonded directly edge-to-edge so that no visible metal separates adjacent stones. The result is a continuous, flowing surface of gem material — a mosaic of light in which each stone appears to touch, or "kiss", its neighbour. Since its introduction, the technique has become the most recognisable signature of the Boghossian aesthetic and has attracted sustained attention from the international high jewellery community as a genuine advance in lapidary and setting craft.

Origins and Development

Boghossian was founded in Geneva in 1988 by Ralph Boghossian, drawing on a family tradition in the gem and jewellery trade that extends back several generations in the Middle East and Europe. The house established itself early as a specialist in exceptional coloured stones — a heritage that directly informed the ambition behind Kissing Diamonds. The challenge the technique addresses is one that has preoccupied jewellery designers for centuries: conventional pavé, channel, and bezel settings all require some quantity of metal between stones to hold each gem securely, and that metal inevitably interrupts the visual continuity of the gem surface. Even the most refined micro-pavé work retains fine metal borders visible under close examination.

Boghossian's technical team approached this problem by rethinking both the cutting of the stones and the adhesive and mechanical systems used to secure them. Rather than relying solely on prongs, beads, or channels, the Kissing Diamonds method employs a combination of precision-cut stone profiles — in which each gem's girdle and pavilion are shaped to interlock or abut cleanly against its neighbour — and advanced bonding technology that anchors stones to an underlying armature without intruding on the visible face. The precise nature of the bonding chemistry and the mechanical sub-structure is proprietary and has not been fully disclosed in public literature, which is consistent with the practice of other high jewellery houses protecting signature manufacturing processes.

The development required close collaboration between the house's in-house gemmologists, lapidaries, and master setters. Achieving consistent, gap-free contact between stones demands tolerances far tighter than those required in conventional setting: a variation of even a fraction of a millimetre in a stone's girdle thickness or culet position can open a visible gap or prevent adjacent stones from lying flat. This places exceptional demands on the cutting stage, which must be coordinated with the setting design from the outset rather than treated as a separate upstream process.

Technical Principles

Several interlocking technical principles underpin the Kissing Diamonds method.

• Precision calibration of stone profiles. Each stone destined for a Kissing Diamonds composition is cut to a specific profile — not merely to standard round brilliant or fancy shape tolerances, but to dimensions calibrated for its exact position within a given piece. Adjacent stones may share a common girdle plane, or their pavilions may be shaped to nest against one another, depending on the curvature of the jewel's surface.
• Elimination of the metal border. In conventional setting, the metal between stones serves both structural and aesthetic functions: it holds each gem and provides a visual boundary. In the Kissing Diamonds system, the structural function is transferred to the underlying armature and bonding system, freeing the visible surface from any metal interruption. The armature itself — typically crafted in gold or platinum — is designed to be entirely concealed beneath or behind the gem layer.
• Curved and sculptural surfaces. Because the technique is not dependent on the flat channels or rails of conventional setting, it is particularly well suited to three-dimensional, sculptural forms. Boghossian has applied it to pieces in which the gem surface follows organic curves — petals, waves, or abstract volumes — that would be extremely difficult to execute in traditional pavé without visible distortion of the metal framework.
• Mixed-material compositions. While the name foregrounds diamonds, the technique has been applied to coloured gemstones — sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and fancy-colour diamonds — either in monochromatic fields or in polychrome compositions where the colour transitions between stones become the primary visual statement. The absence of metal borders between differently coloured stones intensifies the optical blending effect at their shared edges.

Aesthetic Character and Design Language

The visual effect of a Kissing Diamonds surface is qualitatively distinct from that of even the finest conventional pavé. In standard pavé, the eye perceives a field of individual stones separated by fine metal lines; the composition reads as a grid or pattern. In a Kissing Diamonds surface, the gem material reads as a single continuous substance — a skin of light — in which the individual stones are perceived as facets of one larger optical event rather than as discrete units. This is particularly pronounced in white diamond compositions, where the absence of metal borders removes the only visual interruption in an otherwise unbroken field of brilliance.

The technique aligns naturally with the broader Boghossian design philosophy, which tends toward organic, fluid forms rather than geometric rigidity. Many of the house's signature pieces — brooches, cuffs, and necklaces in floral or aquatic motifs — exploit the Kissing Diamonds surface to suggest the texture of petals, scales, or water in a way that would be impossible to achieve with metal-bordered settings. The sculptural ambition of these pieces places them in a lineage that includes the grand objets de vertu of the nineteenth century and the most technically adventurous work of the twentieth-century Parisian ateliers, while remaining distinctly contemporary in their rejection of visible structure.

Industry Recognition and Influence

The Kissing Diamonds technique has been recognised by several of the high jewellery industry's principal forums. Boghossian has been a consistent presence at the Baselworld and Watches & Wonders fairs, where Kissing Diamonds pieces have attracted critical attention from the specialist press. The technique has been discussed in the context of broader innovation in gem setting alongside other proprietary methods developed by major houses — including Cartier's invisible setting refinements and Van Cleef & Arpels' serti mystérieux — as part of a long tradition in which the leading Geneva and Paris ateliers have sought to push the mechanical limits of the jeweller's craft.

The influence of the technique on the broader market is difficult to quantify precisely, as proprietary methods are rarely replicated directly by other houses. However, the Kissing Diamonds approach has contributed to a wider industry conversation about the role of visible metal in high jewellery design and has encouraged experimentation with reduced-metal and metal-free surface treatments among designers working at various price points. At the highest level of the market, the technique has reinforced the position of Boghossian as a house defined by technical innovation rather than by historical archive alone — a significant distinction in a sector where heritage and provenance are frequently the primary commercial assets.

Gemmological Considerations

From a gemmological standpoint, the Kissing Diamonds technique raises several considerations relevant to the assessment and care of finished pieces.

The bonding systems used to secure stones in metal-free or reduced-metal settings are a subject of ongoing scrutiny within the trade. Adhesive-assisted settings, when used in high jewellery, must demonstrate long-term stability under the thermal, mechanical, and chemical stresses of normal wear — including exposure to cleaning agents, perspiration, and the repeated minor impacts of daily use. Boghossian has not published technical data on the specific adhesive systems employed, but the durability of pieces that have been in circulation for a decade or more suggests that the bonding technology meets the demands of wearable jewellery. Nonetheless, owners of Kissing Diamonds pieces are generally advised to seek cleaning and maintenance from the house or from a specialist familiar with the technique, rather than subjecting pieces to ultrasonic or steam cleaning without prior consultation, as these methods can stress adhesive bonds in any setting system that relies on them.

The precision cutting required for the technique also has implications for stone selection. Stones intended for Kissing Diamonds compositions must be free of the kinds of surface-reaching inclusions — fractures, cavities, or chips at the girdle — that would be further stressed by the close mechanical contact with adjacent stones. This imposes a quality threshold above that required for conventional setting, and it means that the technique is most naturally suited to stones of high clarity, particularly in the case of diamonds, where the absence of a metal border makes any girdle imperfection more visible.

For coloured stones, the technique's requirement for precise calibration creates an additional consideration: natural stones of identical nominal dimensions frequently vary in their exact profiles due to the nature of crystal growth and the conventions of coloured-stone cutting, which prioritises colour and weight retention over strict dimensional standardisation. Assembling a matched suite of coloured stones for a Kissing Diamonds composition therefore typically requires a larger parcel of candidate stones than would be needed for a conventional setting, with selection and re-cutting undertaken to achieve the necessary dimensional consistency.

Notable Applications

Among the most discussed applications of the Kissing Diamonds technique are the house's large floral brooches and cuffs, in which the gem surface follows three-dimensional petal or leaf forms with no visible metal on the face of the piece. These works have appeared in major auction previews and have been exhibited at international jewellery fairs, where they have served as the primary demonstration of the technique's capabilities. Boghossian has also applied the method to pieces incorporating significant coloured stones — including sapphires of Kashmiri and Burmese origin and Colombian emeralds — where the Kissing Diamonds surround amplifies the central stone without the visual competition of a metal-bordered pavé field.

The technique has been used in both white and yellow gold, as well as platinum armatures, with the choice of metal determined by the colour palette of the stones rather than by any structural requirement of the method itself, since the metal is in any case concealed from the viewer.

Position within the High Jewellery Landscape

The Kissing Diamonds technique occupies a specific and well-defined position within the history of setting innovation. It belongs to a tradition — shared with Van Cleef & Arpels' invisible setting, Cartier's various proprietary pavé refinements, and the tension setting pioneered by Niessing in the 1970s — in which the technical challenge of concealing or eliminating the metal framework is treated as an end in itself, the visible absence of structure becoming the primary aesthetic statement. In each of these cases, the difficulty of the technique is part of its meaning: the jewel declares, through its apparent impossibility, the extraordinary skill of its makers.

What distinguishes the Kissing Diamonds approach within this tradition is its particular emphasis on surface continuity and sculptural form. Where invisible setting is typically applied to flat or gently curved fields of calibrated stones in a relatively rigid geometric composition, the Kissing Diamonds method has been developed specifically to accommodate complex three-dimensional surfaces and to work with the irregular profiles of natural stones as well as precision-cut calibrated gems. This gives it a flexibility that aligns with the organic, nature-inspired vocabulary that is central to the Boghossian design identity.

As of the mid-2020s, the technique remains exclusive to Boghossian and continues to be developed and refined by the house's atelier. It represents one of the more significant proprietary innovations in high jewellery setting of the past three decades and stands as the clearest single expression of the house's commitment to advancing the technical boundaries of its craft.

Further Reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — setting and lapidary technology articles