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Suzanne Belperron was born in September 1900 in the Jura region of eastern France. After studying at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, Belperron joined Maison René Boivin as a jewellery designer in 1919, working under the mentorship of René Boivin's widow, Jeanne.
Madame Boivin employed a team of talented female jewellery designers. Suzanne Belperron worked her way up to become Jeanne's head designer and oversaw the firm's production of bold, voluptuous pieces that diverged from the dominant Art Deco style of the period. Even after Belperron's departure from the company, her designs were re-worked by Boivin's designers Juliette Moutard and Germaine Boivin.
Belperron left Maison Boivin in 1932, following Jeanne's steadfast refusal to allow Suzanne to create pieces under her own name and award her credit as chief designer of the firm. Bernard Herz – Maison Boivin's pearl supplier – employed Belperron and allowed her to create pieces under the name of Maison Hertz, until she also started using her own name in 1935.
As well as frequently using natural pearls in her jewellery designs, Suzanne Belperron liked to use semi-precious and precious materials together in matching tones, for example, rock crystal and diamond. She frequently used rock crystal in her earlier geometric Art Deco designs. The "honeycomb" setting was perfected by Belperron, where stones were supported by a hexagonal web of fine gold wires.
When World War II broke out in 1939, numerous American jewellery houses, such as Tiffany & Co., offered Suzanne Belperron work in the US. She turned them all down to stay in Europe. When Bernard Herz was sent to a concentration camp, Belperron registered the company as "Maison Suzanne Belperron" to prevent it being taken by the state.
Belperron closed the company and retired in 1974, but continued to act as a consultant until her death in 1983. In 1998, the company was purchased by Ward Landrigan.