PARIS — Last September, Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, then the business development director of Cartier, took on a new role as chief executive of Boucheron. The jump took her between two of the most celebrated jewelry maisons in France, with flagship stores less than 10 yards from one another on the legendary Place Vendôme.

The distance between the two in terms of scale and culture is far greater.

Ms. Poulit-Duquesne, 46, a lifelong luxury veteran, started her career at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and then in 1998 joined the Richemont-owned behemoth Cartier, which has 284 boutiques around the world. Recently, as she sat over coffee amid the sparkling, animal-inspired pieces of Boucheron’s latest haute joaillerie collection, she appeared to relish having taken the helm at Boucheron, a Kering-owned house with only 39 boutiques worldwide.

“There’s no question in my mind that I’ve made the right decision. I feel very happy when I wake up in the morning and go to work every day,” said the dark-haired, elegant Frenchwoman, adding that the welcome at Boucheron from both her new teams and the clients had been “far warmer” than any other she had ever received.

“There is an energy here, an ambition on what we collectively want to do as a business,” Ms. Poulit-Duquesne added. “There is great growth potential for Boucheron, despite it being a small house. In fact, the relatively small size of this house compared to many of our rivals is one of the most valuable assets of the business.”

When Ms. Poulit-Duquesne was hired, Albert Bensoussan, chief executive of Kering’s luxury watches and jewelry division, said he was “convinced that Hélène’s expertise in international development, along with her extensive knowledge of the jewelry and watchmaking industries, will greatly benefit Boucheron in its international reach.”

Her arrival came during a rocky period for the house, known primarily for its use of gold and elaborate jeweling: Sales had fallen year over year, and the former chief executive, Pierre Bouissou, had left abruptly in April.

But after a jittery first half, Kering said that sales at its portfolio of jewelry businesses, which also includes brands such as the Italian house Pomellato, had risen “sharply” during the final three months of the year.

Ms. Poulit-Duquesne, whose appointment was announced in July, stressed that Boucheron continued to be a powerful contender in the fine jewelry field.

“The fact that this business has been able to keep a sense of its character and its traditions is because it remains a maison,” she said. “We don’t like to use the term brand because so much still goes on under one roof.

“In this current trading environment, luxury customers are increasingly prioritizing the rare and unique and are stepping away from the ubiquitous offerings of the powerhouses,” she continued. “And that makes our exclusive ‘small is beautiful’ approach more appealing than ever before.”

Boucheron was the first jeweler on the Place Vendôme, opening in 1893, and it is here at the epicenter of the fine jewelry world that its workshop, salon and boutique remain. Ms. Poulit-Duquesne believes that the jeweler’s atelier on the top floor is a huge draw for many clients — “many of whom we know so well that they feel like part of our family,” she said.

There are similarities in the fine jewelry and high-end watch markets. Both are valued at about 20 billion euros, or $22.2 billion and attract their buyers from the world’s wealthiest elite. But while fine watch brands have been buffeted in recent years by currency fluctuations and the gift-giving clampdown in the all-important Chinese market, the fortunes of the jewelry market appear more buoyant than ever.

“The great advantage of the jewelry market is that it is much less mature than the watch market, which is fully branded at this point,” Ms. Poulit-Duquesne said. “So in the watch world, when you take market share you eat someone else. But with only 15 percent of the jewelry sector held by brands at this point, as we grow, we take unbranded territory, which means there is room for everyone to grow.”

Boucheron has long focused on clientele in two regions: Europe and Japan. Now it is setting its sights on, as Ms. Poulit-Duquesne put it, “everywhere we are not.”

The Middle East has — not unsurprisingly — become a priority for the house, as has Taiwan, and Russia, a country that remains “a very important” part of the customer portfolio, despite the impact of sanctions introduced last year.

“In some ways our clients are just like any others when looking to buy jewelry — many are marking major life moments like an engagement, birthday or anniversary, and that makes purchasing a piece a powerful and emotional decision,” she said, while praising the work of Boucheron’s creative director, Claire Choisne, who was appointed in 2012.

Ms. Choisne has called her approach “the rebirth of the archives,” constantly looking to the pieces of the past before giving them contemporary flair and finish suitable for the present. For example, one of the pieces in her 2015 collection “Bleu de Jodhpur” was inspired by the 149 designs that Boucheron created for the maharaja of Patiala in 1928.

“But,” Ms. Poulit-Duquesne said, “don’t forget that we operate right at the very top of the market, selling to highly educated and savvy collectors who are buying investments, as well as dreams.

“Buying jewelry at this level of quality — both in terms of stones and craftsmanship — is not driven by a tribal shopping mentality, like with handbags. It is about being the owner of some of the most precious, characterful pieces that money can possibly buy.”