HUESERS Magazine March 2022

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Jewelry Fashion Design Lifestyle HUESERS MAGAZINE Mar22 € 15 01 Stories from the luxury world
@ Juliane Bueno Gioielli - jewelry that tell stories
20 th - 23 rd October 2022 More info - info@milanojewelryweek.com

_editorial

Perhaps never as this year had we waited so impatiently for spring: because this spring promises to be crowded with great events that are finally back around the world. And most importantly, they’re physical! From cultural to business events to trade fairs, the 2022 calendar is already full of events including a variety of activities that we can’t wait to join: not only for economic reasons, but also and above all to return to exchange opinions, discuss, take a look at what has happened and is happening around the world, and hopefully broaden our horizons. This same desire to explore and share is also the focus of this second issue of Huesers, where jewellery opens spaces for dialogue with design, fashion, art, new ways of selling and communicating, the latest visions and key themes such as sustainability, responsible living, and social commitments and responsibility. With its wealth of stories and creativity, jewellery firmly remains at the heart of these reflections: coming in new and different forms and styles, it always proves capable of understanding and giving voice also to the younger generations and the new needs that are changing our society.

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01 | Mar22

EDITORIAL OFFICE

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Domenico Festa

domenico.festa@huesersmagazine.com

ART DIRECTOR

Fabrizio Majerna

CONTRIBUTORS

Rosa Chiesa, Angelica Coluccini, Riccardo Ferrato, Danilo Ferrigno, Anna Franceschini, Antonella Garello, Simona Infantolino, Nicolino Martino, Ervisa Micukaj, Samantha Primati, Marco Serravalle, Donatella Zappieri

EDITORIAL CONTACT

editorialstaff@huesersmagazine.com

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PRINTED IN MARCH 2022

Jewelry Fashion Design Lifestyle HUESERS MAGAZINE € 15 01 Stories from luxury world
All rights reserved. Total or partial reproduction of this work, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, is strictly prohibithed without prior permission of the author.
Earrings, necklace and ring by Crieri in white gold with Colombian emeralds and white diamonds. Bogotà 1996 collection.
Salvini.com #SalviniMagia
HUESERS - 012 summary influencer interview commitment design stories artistry heritage 105 _Flos 110 _Projects 058 _Levi Higgs 053 _Amedeo Scognamiglio 039 _La transparence des coeurs 035 _Dreamboule 029 _Chopard 023 _Chantecler 015 _Dolce&Gabbana 073 _Gen Z portraits art_gallery focus on book spaces see you at 105 fashion events art 093 _Sergio Fiorentino 060 _Women of Jewelry 068 _Brian&Barry 101 _Galerie kreo 118 _Inspiration 138 _Exhibitions 089 _VO’Clock Privé 141 _Not To Be Missed 063 _Woman 066 _Nicola Santarelli 015

heritage_

DOLCE & GABBANA

Dolce&Gabbana - the fashion house founded by stylists Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana - has long exported Italian style around the world, evoking Sicily, the Baroque, the atmosphere of Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard and neo-realist cinema through its many collections, awakening the image of a sensual, Mediterranean woman and a man of mysterious charm.

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Dolce&Gabbana Fine Jewellery Lace Collection. Page alongside: Dolce&Gabbana Fine Jewellery Logo Collection.
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Dolce&Gabbana Fine Jewellery Family Collection. Page alongside: Dolce&Gabbana Fine Jewellery Devotion Collection.

workmanship

suit was enriched and made iconic by adding leopard print fabrics in the lining and the use of accessories such as the waistcoat and the Sicilian “coppola” cap.

Over the years, the brand has grown and extended its offer to the world of beauty, children’s wear and home wear.

The brand has also collaborated with film stars, designing 1,500 costumes for Madonna on her international “Girlie Show” tour.

Their fashion shows as well as their advertising campaigns are always set in an imagery closely linked to the island of origin of one of the founders, with its breath-taking landscapes, its contradictions and the culture of the countryside, intimately bound up with its traditions, religion and even its superstitions.

The brand was born in October 1985 with its first show in Milan in the section dedicated to new talents, but designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana had already started working together, founding a design consultancy.

The early nineties saw the brand’s success, with collections inspired by Dolce’s Sicilian origins and the Italian neo-realist cinema of the 40s and 50s. The women’s line was soon joined by a men’s collection. The power of their style began to take shape thanks to the representation of a sensual and austere woman wearing traditional clothes, the “Sicilian dress” inspired by a petticoat, which to this day is still one of the brand’s most iconic garments. In the men’s collections, the classic men’s

The launch of the Fine Jewellery collections in 2012 was a logical consequence of the need not only to emphasise clothing with bijoux but also to let the brand enter the sphere of precious stones, offering handcrafted pieces of intrinsic value.

The first pieces were created in the workshops in Legnano, and are still produced by the skillful hands of master goldsmiths who embrace the classic tradition of Italian jewellery, constantly pushing its limits further, thanks to innovation, mainly in the way stones are cut. It is in these workshops that the Dolce&Gabbana Cut diamond comes to life, a rhomboid cut with a distinctive stepped faceting that is used exclusively in the Alta Gioielleria collections. The style codes of the Fine Jewellery collections once again take up the Sicilian tradition that has always been the source of inspiration for each new launch. There is a strong reference to classic family jewellery, enriched by characteristic elements such as lace, which we also find in the clothes, or the use of cushioncut diamonds.

The constant reference to Sicilian Baroque and its contrasts pushes the creativity of the Fine Jewellery collections towards an alternation of opposites, from the sacred to the profane, crosses, rosaries, Madonnas, apotropaic objects

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jewellery is extremely refined and meticulous.
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where tradition is mixed with innovation, all using precious stones such as rubies to express passion and gems such as sapphires to tell the darker tones. The theme of love remains dominant, interpreted in all its hues, from family ties to attraction for one’s partner.

The workmanship of the jewellery is extremely refined and meticulous. The back of each item too is well finished, with extreme attention to detail. Each chain always has a baroque pearl as its end to emphasise how well the jewel must be cared for and conceived in every single part.

In the Logo collection, bracelets, chokers and sautoirs are characterised by the use of yellow, white and rose gold chains of various sizes and different styles, typical of the best goldsmith’s tradition: gourmette, rollò, rope chain alternate and intertwine with each other, creating infinite combinations, enriched by champagne-coloured South Sea baroque pearls. The signature of these creations is the crossed DG logo proposed in different sizes, in polished gold or embellished with a colourless sapphire pavé and, at the customer’s request, in alternative versions of gems such as colourless diamonds, brown and coloured gems.

The Rainbow collection, on the other hand, tells a story of love, in the research for precious materials.

Jewels unforgettable for their attention to detail, craftsmanship, love of beauty and luminous colour harmonies tell an exciting new chapter of creativity.

The Alphabet collection draws its inspiration from the communicative power of letters. The latest launch features small charms with the digits 0 to 9 to complete one’s messages with special dates and lucky numbers. For the first time, the chains have been embellished with a small DG logo pendant.

Most of the collections are in 18kt yellow gold, lit up by a rainbow of natural gems such as topazes, garnets, amethysts, citrines and peridots, the nuances of their colours evoking the atmosphere of Sicily.

The Devotion collection is a tribute to the refinement and opulence of the Sacred Heart. An iconic symbol of the brand, the Sacred Heart features in five creations. Made of 18kt yellow gold, the jewels are enriched with sumptuous baroque decorations inspired by the Bourbon period, and delicate pearls. Precious bows and diamonds frame the DG logo enclosed within the Sacred Heart.

The key elements of Dolce&Gabbana’s style are also found in the men’s Fine Jewellery collections. The rosary is a recurring element,

used both as a symbol of good luck and as a strong religious bond.

In the same year, 2012, the Dolce&Gabbana Watches men’s timepiece collection completed the brand’s offer in the world of precious stones, followed in 2013 by the launch of the women’s collection. All pieces, whether quartz or mechanical, are Swiss Made and feature Swiss movements. The DG7 model has a patented dial where the stones have a special cut made by numerically controlled machines that allow them to stay on the dial without a bezel or prongs. The highlight of these collections is the Gattopardo watch, model DG7 with an automatic mechanical movement and a gold case decorated and engraved by hand.

The latest effort? The launch of the Manifattura Italiana watches, a collection of 8 models in a limited edition of 10 items. The source of inspiration are the world-famous Italian cities of art: Rome, Milan, Venice, Palermo, Florence, Naples, Leonardo, San Marco. The precision of the internal mechanisms is due to the use of Swiss Made movements, the flagship of which is the DG 01.01 calibre, the first movement made in-house and owned by Dolce&Gabbana and assembled by hand by Swiss master watchmakers.

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Page alongside: Dolce&Gabbana Fine Jewellery Tradition Collection. This page: Dolce&Gabbana Gattopardo Man Watch.

_interview

CHANTE CLER

You say Chantecler and you immediately think of Capri.

More precisely, we think back to postwar Capri, the economic boom and the Dolce Vita, imbued with lightheartedness, unbridled joie-de-vivre, the happiness of a future yet to be designed, where everything seems possible.

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Nicknamed Chantecler after the bubbly rooster featured in Rostand’s fable of the same name, Pietro Capuano came from a family of Neapolitan jewellers. Worldly, bon vivant, tireless and imaginative entertainer at parties and events that became legendary, he founded the Chantecler brand in 1947. In 1950, he partnered with the young Salvatore Aprea, who had just graduated in law and came from a family of Capri jewellers. With complementary personalities and dispositions, they created exuberant, unconventional jewellery, perfect for Capri, a symbol of luxury and glamour, a favourite destination for a diverse elite of aristocrats, film stars, artists and intellectuals. The Chantecler family album contains photos and autographs that few brands in the world can boast: from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Linda Darnell, and even Lex Barker, the iconic cinematographic Tarzan... The company is now run by Salvatore Aprea’s children, Maria Elena, who heads the creative area, Costanza, who mainly deals with training and marketing, and Gabriele, Chantecler CEO, with his wife Maria Teresa. In fact, Costanza explains, every decision is discussed and shared and everyone contributes to the end result with their own wealth of sensitivity and skills.

Chantecler is synonymous with lightness and Dolce Vita. What remains of the charm and magic of those golden decades in the third millennium?

«Chantecler encapsulates the spirit of Capri in a piece of jewellery. In the 1960s, the island, to use my father’s words, was all about parties and elegance: every night there was an event that deserved a new dress and new jewellery. Chantecler was founded as the jeweller for the rich and famous happy few who had nothing to show off. Because they already had everything, they were looking for something different and extraordinary that would bring out their personality in total freedom of style and materials. Chantecler has always focused on what made Capri unique: bold colours, special gemstones, generous shapes».

But times have changed. Dolce Vita is light years away from our world. «Today as then, Chantecler represents the true spirit and the true essence of Capri, which have essentially remained unchanged. With its unparalleled beauty, Capri is a world unto itself, a wealthy one, but never vulgar; it knows how to welcome and make anyone feel at ease. Firmly rooted in tradition, we have been able to innovate, incorporating cuttingedge technologies and difficult materials such as ceramic enamel - featured in one of our latest collections - into that world and into the values of tradition. What I mean is that shapes, gemstones and processing techniques can change, but Chantecler’s language and style are always the same, recognisable and inimitable».

What makes your jewellery unique?

«I call it high ready-to-wear jewellery. Easy to wear every day, they are true works of high jewellery, the result of outstanding craftsmanship, entirely handmade by our Valenza artisans, impossible to make otherwise. Apparent simplicity hides meticulous work; even the simpler objects are designed with great care and attention to detail, even the parts that the eye can’t see. Then the saturated colours of coral, turquoise, onyx, kogolong and precious gemstones evoke a chromatic map and the atmosphere of the island: the blinding white of lime-plastered houses, the blue of the sea and the sky, the local vegetation with its trees and colourful flowers».

What is the target of Chantecler jewellery?

«Our jewellery is perfect for both mature women and younger girls: even the most important pieces have a fresh, whimsical twist, which makes them stylish and wearable in any situation and with any look. They are certainly designed for women who are not satisfied with a classic small diamond pendant».

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chantecler

How did it go over these past two years of pandemic? Have you managed to maintain strong relationships with your dealers?

«We used the Covid pandemic to get closer to our dealers - almost 150 stores in Italy; we called and listened to them one by one and used the lockdown period for remote training and to support and strengthen each other. The result is that our 2021 turnover exceeded our 2019 sales by ten percentage points! Apart from Covid, training and coaching for our partners have always been a key focus for Chantecler. We support retailers in every possible way, from the organisation of events to visual merchandising and advertising. We also hold training sessions at our Milan offices, with 4 or 5 companies at a time. It is always our Chantecler style: highly professional, but in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere... And if our dealers cannot be physically there, our agents provide on-site training; we have a network of extraordinary collaborators who are motivated, passionate and loyal to our brand».

How do you reconcile this “Capri” imprint made up of relationships with online sales and digital innovation?

«We started online sales but we are very cautious about it. We will see how that goes in the future. In the meantime, we have launched an all-out efficiency process, from

a new, complex IT system to monitor every aspect of our business, to a new CRM with a dedicated manager; we have also worked hard on products and their positioning to offer beautiful but not impossible jewellery, offering the best quality and price. It is a huge job that is rewarding us».

This year marks 75 years of business. How will you celebrate this anniversary?

We will present a celebratory collection in March, evoking among other things the historic bronze bell given by Pietro Capuano to the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a lucky charm at the end of the war 1944. This idea inspired a complete collection, from the simplest pieces to the more complex ones, in gold only or with gemstones. A second, very colourful collection will feature floral style. We have also scheduled two institutional events, one in Milan and one in Capri, and events at our dealers for a year full of celebrations and beauty!

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_interview
chantecler
JEWELRY MADE IN MONTREAL @melaniestonesjewelry melaniestones.com

commitment_

CHOPARD

Cate Blanchett in Chopard earrings.

In over a century and a half of life, Chopard has never ceased to innovate, surprise and excite. It has earned a place in the history of watchmaking and jewellery with outstanding creations that are now part of a shared memory. Just think of the dance of the “Happy Diamonds”, combined with gold in jewellery or - in a disruptive way for that time - with steel in watches; or think of Animal World high jewellery, the collection of real and fantastic creatures created for the brand’s 150th anniversary, incredibly expressive and perfectly made. The maison has also linked its name to the world of cinema. Among other things, it has been an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival since 1998 and Chopard jewellery has been worn on international red carpets by today’s most famous divas and top models, from Julia Roberts - the face of their recent Happy Sport campaign - to Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Eva Herzigova, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Carla Bruni and many more. Uniquely positioned in the high jewellery firmament, Chopard has always stood out also for their authentic philanthropic commitment: «When one has been given so much in life, it is only natural that one should give back in one way or another» underlines Caroline Scheufele, co-president and artistic director of Chopard, the creative soul of the family

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«When one has been given so much in life, it is only natural that one should give back in one way or another»
Caroline Scheufele, on the left, with Livia Firth (Eco Age).

business, who has made this reflection a rule of life and the very cornerstone of the company philosophy. With special or dedicated editions, Chopard has partnered with various nonprofit associations around the world over time. These include All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response, which helps rebuild schools in areas affected by earthquakes and natural disasters; The Naked Heart Foundation supports people with disabilities or special needs, especially children; Education Above All works to ensure children’s right to education in the world’s most deprived regions; the José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation helps finance leukaemia research projects, while the aim of the partnership with Eagle Wings is to study and protect the alpine ecosystem. But Chopard’s most ambitious project in social and environmental responsibility is definitely their commitment to “sustainable luxury”, a complex program launched several years ago, when ethical issues were not yet popular in the high jewellery segment and were often seen as some sort

of snobbery “by those who could afford it”. Already a certified member of the Responsible Jewelry Council and always compliant with the Kimberley Process guidelines, which require members to use conflict-free diamonds, Chopard presented its “Journey to a sustainable luxury” in collaboration with Livia Firth’s EcoAge organisation during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Since then Chopard has partnered with the Alliance for Responsible Mining to help artisanal and small-scale mining organisations obtain the Fairmined certification, which certifies that mining operations comply with the highest standards on environmental protection and working conditions. With this certification, communities can sell their gold at a higher price, with beneficial effects on the local economies and social structures. From 2018, Chopard has been using 100% ethical gold - i.e. responsibly sourced or recycled gold - for their jewellery and watches. The recycled gold comes from refineries certified by the Chain of Custody of the Responsible Jewelry Council or from recycled gold scraps, since Chopard has had its own foundry since the 1970s. The extracted gold comes from artisanal mines in South America; here it is worth mentioning Chopard’s commitment in support of the Barequeros, the artisanal gold miners of El Chocó, the second largest gold region in Colombia, as well as one of the poorest in the country.

The Barequeros extract gold using traditional techniques and without resorting to mercury, protecting the region’s extraordinary

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biodiversity. To be legally registered, they must apply for a special permit that authorises them to manually produce and sell up to 420 grams of gold per year. Barequeros gold is now part of a fully traceable, responsible international supply chain and Chopard is a partner in the initiative led by the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA), ensuring that Barequeros miners receive a highly competitive price for their gold and a special 0.70 USD premium on every gram of their gold sold.

The pride and joy of the house, and a perfect synthesis of these complex ethics programmes, the Green Carpet Collection consists of high-end jewellery in ethical gold and diamonds from RJC certified suppliers. It is constantly enriched with finely crafted pieces and capsules, much admired on international red carpets. Because we are not just talking about gold: Chopard has also been a pioneer in ethical gemstones. Over the years, the company has introduced responsible gems into the Green Carpet Collection, traced at every stage of the supply chain and bearing the relative certifications. In 2015 it was the turn of the first traceable opals, from the family mine in Australia, and, in 2016, the first responsibly sourced emeralds, certified by Gemfields, one of the world’s largest mining groups. In 2018, the first ethical Paraiba tourmaline, from the Mavuco mine in Mozambique, caused quite a sensation for its beauty and quality. It was then cut into a triangle and mounted on a splendid necklace designed by Caroline Scheufele with Julianne Moore, who showed it off in Cannes and said she was proud to have walked the red carpet «wearing jewellery with a beautiful story to tell».

commitment
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Julianne Moore wearing the spectacular Paraiba tourmaline responsibly sourced and set in Fairmined gold from the Green Carpet Collection by Chopard.

artistry_

DREAM BOULE

Indoors, the lit fireplace warmed the entire house; outdoors, snow silently covered the entire landscape. The children were playing in front of the fire with a glass snow globe, the kind that lets the imagination of young and old run wild, with white flakes floating like real snow crystals. Mindful of this intimate family moment, Beniamino Crocco was catapulted by his imagination into a dimension where the dream, protected by a precious glass sphere, became a wearable reality. This is how the idea for Dreamboule took its first steps.

A graduate in industrial design in Milan, Beniamino developed a passion for the world of Haute Horlogerie from an early age. This interest grew over the years through research, collaboration as a designer with well-known companies in the watchmaking world and personal adventures which, between Geneva and Milan, led him to set up his own business in the heart of Brera.

It is precisely in this neighbourhood of Milan that Dreamboule does its magic: the mechanical art of watchmaking meets the Italian goldsmithing tradition, and emotions merge with technical research. The brand, which debuted in 2018 at Baselworld, develops around the idea of enclosing within a ring, under a dome of shockproof and scratchresistant sapphire crystal, an entire world of suggestions and figurative representations made by master goldsmiths from Valenza Po, using gold and precious stones. The depicted scene is then immersed in a dense liquid, patented under the name of Dream Solution, which allows the mobile parts of the jewel and the 24 karat gold paillettes to move with a special slow-motion effect.

Creating a Dreamboule ring, the result of four years of research and development, requires no less than 18 laborious techniques for a total of 240 hours of meticulous work.

The rings are divided into four main lines according to size, from the Superb Line, which includes the largest 36 mm models, to the intermediate sizes (20 and 28 mm) of the Classic Line and the smaller 16 mm models of the Bubble Line. The scenes depicted inside are entirely customisable, both in terms of the subjects portrayed and the precious stones used. The brand also offers necklaces, bracelets and earrings, with and without bubbles, as well as the latest men’s collection made of titanium and gold, which dispenses with the use of Dream Solution in favour of larger volumes.

The brand thus changes the rules of contemporary luxury with new standards of beauty for jewellery, targeting a clientele that looks beyond classic jewels, in the quest for accessories capable of surprising. The Dreamboule collections are to be found in exclusive and selected strategic locations around the world, from Lugano to St. Moritz, from Los Angeles to Mikonos and Puerto Banús. As for Italy, after Capri and Venice, Milan seems to be the brand’s next stop.

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Beniamino Crocco with his wife Katerina
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_stories #4

TRANSPARENCE DES COEURS LA

Photo: Riccardo Ferrato Stylist: Nicolino Martino Mua: Angelica Coluccini Hair Stylist: Danilo Ferrigno Model: Aleksandra Liz by Domenico Festa
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Opening page: Aura necklace by Gismondi 1754 in rose gold with diamonds. These pages: earrings and bracelet in rose gold with diamonds and white ceramic. Genesi collection by Gismondi 1754. Jacket: Delfrance.
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White gold earrings and necklace with white diamonds by Leo Pizzo. Shirt: Delfrance.
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Hammered and polished yellow and rose gold bracelets with diamonds from the Dune collection by Vendorafa. Dress: Avaro Figlio. Titanium earrings with white, brown and ice yellow diamonds, golden South Sea and Tahitian pearls. Titanium collection by Giovanni Ferraris.
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Salvini necklace in white gold with diamonds from the Charleston collection. Top & Midi Skirt:Avaro Figlio.
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Earrings, necklace and ring by Crieri in white gold with Colombian emeralds and white diamonds. Bogotà 1996 collection. Shoes: Steeve Madden. Dress: Avaro Figlio.
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From top, clockwise: Dragon ring from the Superb line in rose gold with diamonds, multifaceted ruby root, rose gold paillettes. Bloom ring from the Bubble line in rose gold with white diamonds, blue sapphires, rubies, rose gold paillettes. Whale and Boat ring from the Classic line in rose gold with diamonds, multifaceted blue sapphires, rose gold paillettes. All from the Lively & Lovely collection by Dreamboule, with Dream Solution and sapphire crystal.

AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO artistry_

A world-famous, talented jewellery designer, Amedeo Scognamiglio is already popular among celebs the likes of Spike Lee, Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elton John with his AMEDEO brand - and he keeps looking ahead.

You grew up in Torre del Greco, a worldrenowned cradle of unique craftsmanship, and your family business is one of the most prestigious international companies in the coral and cameo sector. Have you ever felt that the jewellery industry was meant to be your destiny?

«Being born in Torre del Greco and being raised in a family that has been making cameos and coral jewellery for six generations has not only greatly influenced my life choices, but it has been the driving force and a key opportunity to start a creative journey that has led to enhancing luxury around the world. I ‘absorbed’ the trade from birth, almost by osmosis. Then from my early teens I started working in the family company. I learned every aspect of the business and attended international trade fairs in NYC, Basel and Tokyo with my parents. But above all, I learned the art of engraving and as a result the most authentic “face” of the craft. All this prepared me to work with Roberto Faraone Mennella years later in NYC, where we launched brands that now play a major role in the global luxury scene».

What are your fondest memories of those early years you spent in Torre del Greco?

«I fondly remember a 14-year-old Amedeo who, instead of going out with his friends on Saturday nights, preferred to go down to the workshop and spend hours and hours engraving cameos, getting lost in those shapes and in shell dust, listening to Whitney Houston on a red Japanese cassette player, a gift from dad after one of his many trips to Tokyo... The first real ‘business’ trip to NYC is also unforgettable. I went to the JA fair with my father and felt ‘grown up’ in that 3x2 metre stand, showing our beautiful cameos to the American customers, with the enthusiasm of a teenager entering the real world. It was 1986».

In AMEDEO jewellery, cameos get rid of all clichés and freely rethink the spirit of our days. What do you and your customers still find so fascinating about cameos?

«Cameos were my first love. Yet, I cannot say that it was a question of ‘genetics’, because my two siblings did not experience that same fatal attraction. I instantly fell in love not only with their artistic beauty and the end result, but also with the ancient world from which each piece was created; the craftsmen, with their stories, their dusty workshops, steel burins, and the tissue paper in which the finished cameos were kept... A small ancient world, to be preserved as a relic. This is what still motivates me to create and above all to innovate, so that this tradition can continue for the next hundred years. In terms of business and design, in a world so flattened by the mass (mass production and mass distribution) playing with a unique, handmade product without international competitors is simply exciting and offers us a huge advantage in uniqueness and originality».

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artistry
amedeo_scognamiglio
Cameos were my first love. I was fascinated by that ancient world from which each piece was created.
Roberto Faraone Mennella and Amedeo Scognamiglio.

How is AMEDEO jewellery made? What are the main sources of inspiration and where is it manufactured?

«All AMEDEO jewellery is created in-house in our workshop in Torre del Greco. Each piece is designed by me and made by the talented craftsmen in my team, with a focus on creativity and uniqueness. We have been committed to the revival of cameo jewellery since the foundation of the AMEDEO brand in 2006. I was already famous in NYC for the Faraone Mennella brand, but when I talked about cameos to buyers and stylist friends, I would always find some coldness and the usual answer ‘They remind me of my grandmother, they are not interesting’. And from those (humiliating) comments I found the strength and energy to break the mould, creating a super cool collection that was the aesthetic evolution of a centuries-old tradition. We left brooches and female profiles behind, giving birth to the first collection of gigantic cocktail rings with monkeys, skulls and elephants in silver and black diamonds which immediately invaded cult luxury stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods, Dover Street Market and Netaporter... and now AMEDEO jewellery is worn by the likes of Spike Lee, Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker and Elton John instead of... grandmothers!».

Why did you choose Capri as a location, after NYC? Was it a personal preference or is there a link with what ‘the spirit of Capri’ still represents?

«Capri was more of a choice from the heart than a business choice; I wanted to spend the summer holidays on the island as I did when I was a child, and a shop has become the perfect excuse. Now, in addition to fulfilling that purpose, the Capri shop has in fact become the soul of the brand, a flagship, a Muse».

Faraone Mennella was a resounding success, linked to big names in the film and entertainment industry. How is the brand performing?

«Faraone Mennella is now positioned at the top end of the jewellery industry: our regular artistry

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customers include almost all the royal families of the Middle East, Russian oligarchs, American tycoons and Hollywood stars. The success of Faraone Mennella is due to two key factors: the unrepeatable human and creative symbiosis between Roberto Faraone Mennella and me, and New York city, which welcomed us, supported us and pushed us forward. Today I am continuing this journey alone, trying to take the brand we created and nurtured like a child to even higher levels, to pay my greatest tribute to Roberto. I believe he was one of the most talented Italian jewellery designers whose skills are recognised worldwide, unfortunately still too little in Italy. Our human and professional history will soon be told in a film, so that it can be an inspiration and an example to many young Italians».

Is it true that you are working on an NFT project? Can you tell us about it?

«The drop of the first AMEDEO NFT is planned for mid-March. The crypto community is already following me with great interest and enthusiasm, so we are sure it will be a

success. Before the summer, we will open the first AMEDEO boutique in the Metaverse and then an entire AMEDEO village, inhabited by the surreal characters of my jewellery world. It will be my second revolution. With the first one, I brought cameos - previously snubbed as kitsch, old-fashioned souvenirs - to the fashion and luxury industry. With the second, a digital innovation, we will take a leap into the next dimension, from the Roman Empire to the Metaverse! Boom!».

How do you think the pandemic has changed consumers’ ways of thinking about jewellery and their ways of buying? And how can a brand cope with these changes?

«The pandemic has not changed anything: it has only emphasised and accelerated an epochal change that was already underway but many had not noticed. In particular, traditional distribution was no longer sustainable - with the whole process involving importers, distributors, agents, retailers... It was indeed obsolete. Today, thanks to social media, increasingly young consumers feel entitled and able to communicate directly with a brand, without filters or mediators. Those who fail to verticalize their business and sales channels will be cut out of the system. It is inevitable. On the other hand, the market is now much wider than what my father was targeting, for example. Today’s luxury customers are aged 16 and up; men are buying more and more jewellery, and women no longer need a husband to buy it for them. They no longer have to wait for Christmas or a wedding anniversary... And they are all much more competent, they won’t be ‘duped’: today you are either a brand, or you are nothing».

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amedeo_scognamiglio

Levi Higgs _influencer

The Head of David Webb’s archives and heritage, Levi Higgs can be considered one of the most relevant influencers in the world of antique jewellery.

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In his Instagram account, which has some 70,000 followers, Levi carries us into the magical world of auctions, private sales and museum visits, with extremely impactful photos and captions in vibrant and vivid colours, just as his stories are fascinating virtual experiences. What is his distinguishing feature? He always shoots holding the items in his hand, something unusual but with both experiential and visual power, which generates rich and distinctive content compared to many other jewellery accounts. Levi lives in New York where he moved from Wyoming to study at Parsons University. With a Master’s degree in history of decorative arts and design and a specialization in antique jewellery, he took his first steps in the industry, initially working for Kentshire, the vintage jewellery space inside the Bergdorf & Goodman department store. After completing his Master’s degree, he joined David Webb in 2013 and began working on social media and archives. Today he is head of the department. His personal Instagram account was set up in 2010, and the focus has always been on jewellery and the decorative arts. In fact, Levi specifies that his Instagram page is about what he likes most and his intention is to share and shoot it with a beautiful and impactful aesthetic. «I want to democratise jewellery and show people the behind-the-scenes stuff they often don’t get to see». We asked Levi a few questions to better understand and discover his passions and inspirations in his work as an industry expert and influencer.

Where did your love for jewellery come from?

Even as a child I was fascinated by films and books about magical stones and hidden treasures. As a teenager, I loved vintage markets and was always on the lookout for beautiful little things to collect. That’s why today it is natural for me to always look for the most striking angle to publish jewellery and share these passions and experiences of mine with the public. In one way, jewellery is the ultimate form of decorative art, and it is often a perfect casket to tell a beautiful story. My background is in art history and materials culture, so using a piece of jewellery as a lens to investigate these worlds is always an extremely rewarding experience for me. This passion of mine also expresses itself through writing, as I collaborate with a number of trade magazines in the sector. My latest article was published in Tefaf but I have also written for Vanity Fair UK, The Adventurine, The Daily Beast, Out Magazine and for auction houses such as Phillips and Bonhams.

Travelling, going to fairs, auctions, meeting people are an important part of your job to keep up to date and always have content for your followers. How did the pandemic change the way you do research and how did

you keep active during the lockdown?

During the period of the pandemic, I was constantly looking through my personal image archives so that I would have material to post and share. Once things stabilized a bit here in New York and events started being organized in presence again, such as auction previews, I was able to start going out and seeing beautiful objects in person again and tell about them through my account.

In your posts and stories you always have a personal way of taking photos, choosing elements to highlight. How did you start to create your “signature” and how would you define it today?

My Instagram style is extremely consistent. I like to shoot the jewellery holding it in my hand, making sure there is natural light and I prefer impact shots. What’s key for me is being consistent in what I do. When I create stories, I build them as immersively as possible. I try to make sense of the publication by clearly defining the beginning, the continuity and the end. I like

to share details with close-ups and enrich them with a bit of healthy humour. If the jewel has a moving component, I use Boomerang. The only rule I respect is to maintain a regular posting schedule, to keep the quality of the images high and to only post what really interests me. I would never post a photo that was out of focus or had uninteresting content.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to this world and wants to create their own page?

My advice would be to make sure you find your own space so that you have your own voice within a specific niche. Also, don’t be afraid to ask, and approach this world in an honest yet humble way. If you approach people in our industry in the right way, they will always be willing to help you.

levi_higgs

_book

Linda Kozloff-Turner is a jewellery designer, writer and photographer, who sells high-end, sustainable and commissioned collections under her Christine Marguerite Designs brand in Boulder - Colorado. Linda interviewed 100 of the most interesting female jewellery designers in the world with the aim of highlighting an expertise often developed through adversity, family issues and financial distress. The interviews tell the stories of these women, their experiences in the jewellery industry and their achievements as designers, and often as entrepreneurs.

Linda has been working in the industry for 47 years. She loves her job and, as a woman, she knows how hard it can be to succeed and create your own space in a male-dominated workplace. She is aware that being a woman means you will be treated differently, but she also knows that there can be some benefits and positive aspects. Linda has always used her experience for the benefit of others as she believes that educating, inspiring and informing other people will help them develop their skills.

Her idea of interviewing 100 women stems from a desire to know their thoughts about the jewellery industry by sharing their experience in growing a business, but above all a story of the difficulties they had to overcome. The book is about telling and sharing women’s wisdom

and a starting point to help and support anyone who wants to enter the industry today. The publication contains a portrait of each artist, a review of their work, their pearls of wisdom, the encounter with each of them, and their interviews. Linda met 100 women and created an entire community of women in the jewellery industry; 100 Women of Jewelry focuses on the story of each of them. Linda’s goal is to provide a female and global perspective on the jewellery industry, a perspective created by putting different cultures together. That’s why she has included women of all ages. Each artist has an incredible story, because each of them had to study and work much harder than a man to make a name for herself in the industry. As for products, Linda has chosen and included different styles to provide an international and unconventional vision.

Selecting, contacting and interviewing all these women was no easy task. While Linda initially began visiting trade fairs such as Couture and JCK or meeting various entrepreneurs and designers in person in their ateliers, the pandemic and various lockdowns forced her to continue her interviews via Zoom. Linda confesses that while the funniest part of her initial face-to-face interviews was to get to wear the jewellery, digital technology has allowed her to reach women around the world and extend her research to give the book a much broader edge. After vast amounts of research, interviews and editing for about five years

- often more than 60 hours a week together with her editor Frank Stankus, book designer Peggy Sands and technical support from Tom Turner - her hard work will finally be rewarded early summer, when the book will be released. Also, the “Women of Jewellery” exhibition will be held in autumn, the largest exhibition ever staged with works by female jewellery artists, supported by a major auction house and the related jewellery sales. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated with a donation selected by the Women’s Jewelry Association, in memory of the tribute written by Frank Stankus for his late wife Cindy Edelstein, and another with a donation selected by the Jewelry Department of the Fashion Institute of Technology, in memory of Professor Yupadee Kobkulboonsiri, whose tribute was written by her husband, Steven Fishman.

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Linda Kozloff -Turner

_fashion

Time to regain a dressing experience

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woman MACH & MACH ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

Imagine being awakened from a deep sleep. Imagine leaving that state of cosiness that is typical of quiescence. Imagine getting out of numbness and returning to perceive the energy flowing through your body.

The time of cocoon dressing is over. It’s no longer time to long for kilometres of cashmere and metres of knitwear, sinking your head under an alpaca hoodie. Enough with leisurewear at any time of day and for every occasion. It is time to regain an emotional connection with what you are wearing. To start designing a new existence with a sophisticated nature, taking elements from the past and making them relevant for the present, while projecting ideas for the future.

It is a message shouted from the ready-towear catwalks, where collections increasingly resemble Haute Couture. So are Valentino’s new editions of creations from the past, such as the white dress by Marisa Berenson, an animalprint coat, or three-dimensional floral dresses. Prada’s short sheath dresses in coloured duchesse, chaste on the front and completely

open on the back, ready to reveal. The dynamic and pictorial collection with new romantic vibes by Alexander McQueen, who looks to poet William Blake. Ideas from a past that is observed without prejudice. Setting aside the rule that wearing apparel designed in the most traditional sense means sacrificing comfort. Quite the opposite; it is one of the best ways to express yourself and give light to your soul. Fearlessly. And fear is another banned concept. The obvious fear of showing your body, of not feeling right for a certain type of silhouette. Now more than ever, there is a growing desire for body liberation, with people naturally expressing body positivity through their need to regain their dress sense. Dressing returns to be an experience that defines a new concept of femininity, expressing both a person’s exterior and interior, to adapt fully and without expiration dates.

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Hints from the past create a present characterized by a positive corporeity, naturally exhibited, while propelling new ideas into the future.
KITON SS22 KELLY GAVROCHE
woman PRADA ALESSANDRA RICH AGENT PROVOCATEUR
COSTARELLOS
It is a message shouted from the readyto-wear catwalks, where collections increasingly resemble Haute Couture.

_fashion Nicola Santarelli

History and tradition, but also the ability to follow - and often anticipate - the ceaseless evolution of contemporary humanity: these are the elements that distinguish Nicola Santarelli 1915, a historic company from Italy’s Apulia region that has made a name for itself in the men’s tailoring sector. Started in the early years of the 20th century, the business took its first steps in the flourishing fabric trade of the time and then directed its energies towards men’s tailoring thanks to the leadership of Nicola Santarelli and Giacomo Pasculli. Now in its fourth family generation with Giuseppe Santarelli, the company looks to the future of tailoring, evaluating the evolution of the social and economic context, without ever forgetting its origins, characterised by an entirely Made in Italy know-how and the very high quality of its products. «In men’s clothing, the concept of Made in Italy represents a brand in itself» comments Nicola Santarelli, the company’s sole director. «For this reason, maintaining a high level of quality influences not only our reputation as a company, but that of an entire sector. The quality of the product is one of the cornerstones on which our offer is based, it is the key allowing us to stand out!». What makes the difference are the manual production process (the fabrics are cut by hand with scissors), the use of ad hoc needle and thread for certain details of the clothes, and the wide

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range of fabrics from which the customer can choose. All this allows the company to meet the different needs of today’s customers, from the man who likes to wear fine blazers even on informal occasions to the businessman who is used to wearing well-cut suits that are comfortable to wear even on business trips, to the groom who is looking for a suit that is perfect for such a special day as a wedding. Always tied to its origins, which are rooted in the Apulian sartorial tradition, in 2015 the company inaugurated its current headquarters in Bitonto, in the province of Bari, which was recently joined by a showroom in Milan, in the very central via Montenapoleone. «The Milan office was born out of the need to be present in the country’s economic capital on a daily basis» continues Nicola Santarelli. «Milan is a crossroads for meetings and trade fairs in the fashion industry, and having a foothold there makes it infinitely easier for us to invite our customers to view Santarelli products directly». The company also offers its

Italian and international customers a virtual assistance and consultancy service - which will soon be flanked by the activation of an e-commerce and a “travelling tailor” service that provides the participation of a qualified tailor at dedicated bespoke events. «The future looks complex but exciting» concludes Nicola Santarelli. «We intend to work on models that are more youthful and less set in stone, based on the needs of the moment, which see more and more work from home and the integration of classic and casual styles. We also want to open up to the opportunities of the digital world without, however, ever abandoning two fundamental focuses for us: the quality of the materials and staff training, a choice that has always proved to be a winner».

men
In the men’s fashion the concept of Made in Italy represents a brand in itself.
Sergio Múñiz, testimonial SS21.

_spaces Brian &Barry

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GISMONDI 1754

From the excitement of the day to the glamour of the night, the Brian&Barry Building accompanies Milanese life in a chameleon-like guise that adapts to the different needs of those who live in the city every day or are just passing through. With its 6,000 sqm on 12 levels, the building - designed in the 1950s by the famous Milanese architect Giovanni Muzio - strategically located on the corner of Via Durini and Piazza San Babila, overlooks the city centre, observes it and satisfies its desires and needs: food around the clock from the international Starbucks breakfast to the resident chef Marco Fossati’s gourmet aperitif and dinner, served on the top two floors with a view of the Milan skyline; the shopping areas offer services - such as personal shopper and delivery of purchases to the hotel - tailored to the customer; the

first floor hosts Aldo Coppola’s Atelier for hair care and well-being for all ages. The second floor, on the other hand, is dedicated to jewellery and watches with original proposals for him and her from the best national and international brands: Akillis, Casato, Citizen, Crieri, Frederique Constant and Gismondi 1754, to name but a few. The Brian&Barry was designed to bring together under one roof three cornerstones of Made in Italy excellence - food, fashion and jewelleryin order to create not just a place to pass through but a true 360° experience at the service of the customer.

brian&barry
FREDERIQUE CONSTANT AKILLIS CRIERI A’ Riccione Terrazza12 A’ Riccione Terrazza12 Photo: Riccardo Ferrato MUA: Ervisa Micukaj Models: Urbn Agency
by
Domenico Festa
_stories #5 GEN portraits
Opening page: earrings in silver and pearls by Telma Aguiar. Model: Kertu Kink. Page alongside: pendant in silver and gold by Matteo Vitali Design. Model: Steven Muir. On this page: Linearity rings in silver and gold plated silver by Invaerso. Model: Ji Yeon Kim. On this page: ring in silver by Andrea Borges. Model: Alfonso Gebbia. Page alongside: earrings in burnished silver with zircons by Dago Jewels. Model: Nubia Macedo. These pages: ring in 24kt gold plated silver by Royal Treasures. Model: Dami Aderonke. On this page: rings in silver and baroque pearls by Bettina T Jewelry. Model: Elena Sophia. Page alongside: necklace in silver and amber by Nele Blanckaert. Model: Moshe Falade. These pages: Silk necklaces in silver and ring in silver and onyx by Giovanni Raspini. Model: Tomasz Kurdziel. Page alongside: ring in burnished silver and lapis and ring in burnished brass from the Mefite collection by Domenico D’Addario. Model: Vania Raudi. On this page: necklace in silver and amber by Nele Blanckaert. Model: Keisuke Tsujita. Necklaces in burnished silver with zircons and natural freshwater pearls by Dago Jewels. Model: Victoria Tedesco. Page alongside: necklace in burnished silver with rock crystal by Spinelli Gioielli. Model: Dami Aderonke

_events

V O’CLOCK

by Anna Franceschini

to wristwatches.

Eagerly awaited at an international level, the first goldsmith exhibition of the year to be held physically present, Vicenzaoro comes to the appointment in great splendour, proposing an extremely varied production range, representative of the trends and novelties of the entire sector. One of the highlights of this edition is VO’Clock Privé, the new format dedicated to wristwatches conceived by the Italian Exhibition Group as a meeting opportunity for the protagonists of contemporary watchmaking, enthusiasts and experts in the field, operators and the press. For three days - from March 18th to 21st, with Saturday and Sunday open to the general public - some of the best known luxury & global brands and independent brands will present their creations, some of which are absolute premieres, in elegant lounges in the foyer on the first floor of the Vicenza exhibition centre. What will make the format even more intriguing and engaging will be the training sessions: the FHH-Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie will hold two sessions exploring iconic mechanisms such as chronographs, tourbillons and perpetual calendars; the CAPAC watchmaking school in Milan will hold technical sessions on the basics of mechanical watchmaking. A dedicated lounge will host meetings with the exhibiting brands and a series of in-depth talks with personalities from the sector. In short, an articulated programme designed to offer coordinated moments of business, culture, technology and information.

events
A new format by Italian Exhibition Group dedicated

Opening page: BR 05 GMT by Bell & Ross: steel case and integrated bracelet, calibre BR-CAL.325 Automatic mechanical with GMT function, dual time zone. Page alongside, left: Corum Bridges Golden Bridge Miss “Large” in rose gold with 168 diamonds, no dial, CO 113 manual movement. Right, from top: Timex Waterbury, stainless steel satin-finished/ polished case and bracelet, automatic quartz movement, water resistant 100 m. Wyler Vetta Jumbostar automatic chronograph, steel case topped by domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Black leather strap with red stitching. Ball Engineer III, Chronometer certified COSC,multi-colored micro gas tubes on hour, minute and second hands, automatic caliber. This page, above: Venezianico Ultralight Nereide watch in steel with skeleton dial inspired by the Vitruvian Man. Left: Eberhard Chrono 4 ref. 31073. Mechanical Automatic Winding Chronograph, 4 counters in line - Patented. Black rubber/alligator strap/chaque steel bracelet.

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art_

SERGIO FIO REN TI NO

Suspensions, doubling and immersions.

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«Blue is an ancestral colour, it envelops me completely and is the shade I see every day in Noto, the town I have chosen for this new phase of my life».

What seem to be chance encounters and revelations are often the start of great undertakings.

Sergio Fiorentino, today a recognised artist in Italy and abroad (in particular in the USA, France and Germany), abandoned his vocation as a veterinarian after a significant encounter that led him to attend the Abadir academy - originally specialising in painting, restoration of paintings, ceramics and antique books - where he became passionately interested and trained in art.

Indulging in his passion for design and collecting, a trait that has characterised him since a young age, he opened a design gallery in Catania specialising in objects dating from the 1930s to the 1960s, but a new turning point came up.

After moving to Noto, the cradle of Sicilian baroque, the new phase in Sergio’s life saw a return to art and painting. As the years go by, he appears to have found a mature synthesis between interests and talents, between the recovery of learned notions and innate passions, between belonging to tradition and being in the contemporary world.

Sergio’s artistic work reveals a strong bond with his homeland, Sicily, and reveals a refined sensitivity towards beauty understood as depth, as the stratification of memory, as materiality, with more or less explicit references to ancient painting: «I am especially fascinated by the painting of the 13th and 14th centuries, I love Antonello da Messina but also Metaphysics and Magic Realism, in an unconscious way the cultural and visual references that move me the most emerge, in a sort of irrational mixture of past and present. My figures, however, belong to a contemporary dimension, although they breathe an ancient aura, I bring them back to the present day». The figures in the artist’s work appear suspended, expressing a sense of doubleness that calls for different levels of interpretation: the classical stance of diaphanous figures that seem to hint at the

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contemporary theme of gender fluidity, penetrating gazes (harking back to the psychological depth of Antonello da Messina) that alternate with the oblivion of sleeping figures, faces that split in two («in Gemelli - the Twins - for example, the faces double up, but I know they will never be identical» Sergio says), portraits without a gaze that seem to appeal to the other senses to be completed.

In a repeated game of references and opposites, the hieratic feeling that pervades the compositions acts as a counterpoint to expressiveness, as in the 2017 work Tuffatrice - the Diver - where a weightless figure, suspended in a position reminiscent of the crucifixion, bears stigmata as a sign of gushing “humanity”.

Blue is the ever present colour in Sergio Fiorentino’s work; he uses it as a base before applying oil colour, but it re-emerges through scratches that evoke the materiality of ancient plaster, obtained with a gesture of excavation, like an attempt to bring out “what lies beneath”.

In the same way, the use of gold leaf laid on bolus, as was done in ancient times, returns in a recent project having as its theme religiosity and the figures of saints. A kind of hagiography that belongs to the traditional Sicilian imagination - hence also that of the artist - which today also works on threedimensional applications, furniture made with precious materials, from brass to silver to lapis lazuli and coral, and others focused on the figures of saints: «I am very fond of the ‘saint’s cabinet’, I am working on a Saint Sebastian, a simple figure that will be at the centre of a mysterious, kinetic object containing hidden mechanisms».

Many other projects too are in the pipeline, from paintings commissioned for the interior of a church, to the creation of a book, to be published in September, commissioned by an American collector, co-created by Sergio with his partner Rosita, who is also the graphic designer.

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099 - HUESERS 099 - MAGAZINE sergio fiorentino
Special Exhibition GENOA Palazzo Grillo 12 International Artists 2 Performers VERNISSAGE - April 29th h. 6 pm info@artitoode.com
Photo Credits Marcello Moscara

art gallery_

GALERIE KREO

the luxury of indulging one’s passions

Signal F1 by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby

We might call it a “research laboratory”, with a dual nature: publisher and exclusive producer of limited-edition contemporary pieces, the Paris-based gallery in the 13th arrondissement - in the heart of the art district, no coincidence - also offers for sale an exceptional selection of 20th century French and Italian lighting.

Galerie kreo, which means “creation” in Esperanto, is now internationally recognised as one of the most influential players on the design scene. Founded in 1999 from an idea of its two founders, Clémence and Didier Krzentowski (art and design collectors since the 1980s, with a past that links them both to the sports sector), it immediately met with the interest of contemporary art collectors, who at the turn of the century were becoming interested in the furniture sector, but also intercepted the interest of designers, in search of spaces for research and creativity free from the diktats of increasingly invasive marketing.

It was in 1981 that Memphis had the merit of initiating a transformation in the production and market of design, paving the way for socalled “gallery design”: not only acting on the aesthetic side of objects, but thinning the separation between art and design. The new “anti-rationalist” perspective on design subsequently took shape in the so-called DesignArt or Art Design, an “autonomous” system that looked at art rather than at the logic of design tout court.

Galerie kreo’s first contacts involved working on industrial projects with Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, François Bauchet, Marc Newson, Pierre Charpin and many others, although

kreo’s true vocation was clear from the outset - to be that of creating a research workshop. For this reason, the founding model of collaboration with designers was established and continues to be based on the absence of constraints, neither financial, nor time, nor formal (material, technique, size) to ensure the maximum success of projects that often take a very long time to complete.

These are limited editions of 12 pieces, a principle borrowed from art (8 copies + 2 prototypes + 2 artist’s proofs) introduced in an unprecedented way by the two collectors in the design sector, which also envisages the perfect realisation of the works thanks to a wellestablished network of excellent craftsmen and manufacturers, specialised in the use of various materials, from wood to metal and resin, and located all over the world. The gallery works together with many famous contemporary industrial designers and planners - whose works are often included in the world’s most important private and public collections, from the MoMA to the Centre Pompidou, from the V&A in London to the SFMoMA in San Francisco, etc. – from Virgil Abloh to Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Pierre Charpin, Naoto Fukasawa, Jaime Hayon, Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, Alessandro Mendini, Jasper Morrison, Marc Newson or Studio Wieki Somers, all of whom, escaping from the logic of serial production, have found and find here a space to express their most experimental creative side.

Thanks to the passion and experience they have acquired in over twenty years of collecting contemporary art and design, the two founders of kreo never hesitate when choosing pieces to support, suitable for being included in their “ideal collection”: works that often stimulate amazement, an inescapable force in that process of creating desire/possession that drives the collectors’ market, or simply pieces

that give substance to a story imagined from viewing a sketch.

As well as producing and promoting research into contemporary design, the gallery is known for its careful selection of lighting objectsDidier Krzentowski’s field of expertise but also one of his main passions - mostly 20th century French and Italian, dating from the 1950s to the 1980s, with a particular focus on the work of the Italian designer and historical entrepreneur Gino Sarfatti, whom Didier has long studied.

The multifaceted activity of Galerie kreo also includes publishing work that accompanies for example the promotion of exhibitions, with invitations designed by graphic designer Laurent Fétis, and the support of designers’ work through the production of exhibition catalogues, books and monographs.

Finally, Galerie kreo has a merit due but not always acknowledged to pioneers, that goes beyond that of talent scout to a kind of patronage, involving support for the work of young designers, just to name a few, the Dutch WiekiSomers, the Portuguese Fernando Brízio, the Swedish Front group, the Swiss BigGame and Adrien Rovero, the German Julia Lohmann and David Dubois and François Azambourg, some of whom have already been aided since their first productions and future exhibition projects.

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art_gallery
Perles de Jaspe - Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec
galerie_kreo
Volume PKonstantin Grcic
Newson Biblio Multicolor

_design

FLOS

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COORDINATES W2_ARGENT_PH. TOMMASO SARTORI

Flos today represents Italian excellence, an internationally recognised actor in the residential and contract lighting sector, but above all it is the story of a successful business case, developed from the role of innovation, a fundamental element both in the original creation of the company and in the subsequent development of the brand.

Besides product quality, Flos immediately grasped the importance of a flexible business model, the central role of distribution and the balance between the creativity of the designers and overall entrepreneurial quality, investing not only in the image of the product, entrusted to professionals, but also in the corporate image, collaborating with famous names such as Pino Tovaglia, Max Huber and Italo Lupi, to name but a few.

Founded in Meran in 1962 by two great protagonists of Made in Italy - Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina with Sergio Biliotti - the company passed to the Gandini family in 1964, who moved the headquarters to the Brescia area where Sergio Gandini already owned a furniture shop, Stile.

Cocoon, a plastic material (spray polymer), used in the USA during World War II to protect tanks during transfers, was imported to Germany in 1959, and then to Italy, in Meran, by Arturo Eiseinkeil with the intention of applying it to the production of lighting fixtures. With its vast expressive potential, cocoon became, in

the expert hands of the Castiglioni brothers and Tobia Scarpa, who were immediately called upon to experiment with it, the distinctive material of the first fixtures in the catalogue, destined to become design icons: the Viscontea and Taraxacum models (1960) and, immediately afterwards, Gatto and Fantasma (Tobia Scarpa), some of which are now part of the permanent collection of the MoMa in New York.

This was just the beginning of a path marked by the creation of formal archetypes that, while interpreting very different expressive languages, characterised the company by their innovative capacity. Those were the years of Foglio (1966), a “minimal sculpture” in bent steel, or Biagio (1968), designed by Tobia Scarpa and conceived for mass reproduction even though it was made from a traditional block of marble; or of the typological innovation introduced with the Arco lamp (a versatile replacement for pendant lamps) and the Parentesi lamp (Castiglioni brothers+Pio Manzù), of only apparent simplicity: a lighting bulb mounted on a joint that slides on a cable stretched between the ceiling and the ground, which won the Compasso d’Oro in 1979. Just last year, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the company, with Calvi and Brambilla, philologically reinterpreted its essence through colour: two versions, one in turquoise (very dear to Achille Castiglioni) and the other in

HUESERS - 108 design
Italian excellence operating internationally, Flos is a successful business case based on innovation, design and the flexible business model that has made Italy a heaven for international designers since the 1980s.
flos
Coordinates W2_Argent Ph. Tommaso Sartori String Light Sphere_white_M.Anastassiades Oplight_Jasper Morrison String Light Sphere_white_M.Anastassiades
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design
Parentesi 50_turquoise_ A.Castiglioni & Pio Manzù

Signal Orange, the colour Manzù used for his car design prototypes.

At the end of the 1980s, when Sergio’s son Piero Gandini joined the company (Managing Director in 1996 and Chairman in 1999), the exclusive collaboration with Philippe Starck, an emerging designer on the international scene, opened the way for the internationalisation of the company and the entry of a second generation of designers including Antonio Citterio, Piero Lissoni, Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders, Ron Gilad, the Bouroullec brothers, Michael Anastassiades, Vincent Van Duysen, Nendo and Formafantasma.

The Compasso d’Oro Career Prize (1994) - with the following motivation: “Flos has successfully adopted a policy of advanced exploration, building a coherent offer that testifies to how the same entrepreneurial objectives can be translated into cultural factors” - was followed, in the 1990s, by the creation of the Light Contract division (1996) - recently renamed Flos Bespoke - which decreed the company’s

success also in the custom lighting sector. Links with other international companies, and the production and commercial expansion of the company (Flos Architectural and Flos Outdoor divisions), characterised the course of the 2000s, leading Flos to play a leading role today in offering integrated solutions in the lighting sector, distributed in more than 90 countries worldwide. With Roberta Silva, appointed CEO of Flos in 2019, the company since 2018, together with other European companies, has joined one of the largest global groups in the high-end interior design sector, The Design Holding.

Among its most recent achievements, Flos has signed the lighting design for the exhibition Realismo Magico at Palazzo Reale in Milan, curated by Gabriella Belli and Valerio Terraroli and set up on a project by Mario Bellini, with the inclusion of a high-tech product: Camera, a universal LED track projector system, equipped with state-of-the-art optics and silicone lenses, which allows the light to be optimally calibrated so as not to damage the works on display. Together with Knud Holscher’s minimalist design, Flos will be presenting a special installation in the temporary bookshop of the exhibition, featuring the iconic Chiara lamp designed in 1969 by Mario Bellini. Characterized by the economy of the process, the Chiara lamp, produced using a sheet of polished stainless steel, cut and rolled up to form a cylinder, was reissued in 2020 with new details and new dimensions and finishes.

flos
Flos grasped the importance of a flexible business model, the central role of distribution and the balance between the creativity of the designers.
Miss Sissi - P. Starck Arco - Fratelli Castiglioni Momentum

ARCANGELO D’ALESSANDRO

Born in Italy, but with his new roots in Germany, Arcangelo G. D’Alessandro has taken his passion for art around the world, establishing a well-defined working method that combines industrial processing and craftsmanship. His projects take shape in ever-changing ways thanks to computational design, which makes it possible to replicate an object while changing its shape each time, thus creating unique products that are always different. «I implemented this method of working in the development of Design by Food, a project research that aims to create design objects inspired by the world’s food and wine traditions. I wanted each piece to be unique, just like each dish we eat is unique». The designer’s creations are the result of a mix of suggestions coming from his childhood spent in the countryside with his grandparents, and from the design of the 60s and 70s, two apparently distant realities that, together, give life to a style with a strong evocative character. «After two difficult years like the ones just passed, we designers have the opportunity to create a new culture of things. I am convinced that the paradigm of globalisation will change and that we will redesign the world on an environmental and human scale. And this scenario opens up new and exciting possibilities». The designer’s projects are available on the website arcangelodalessandro.com

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A perfect synthesis of nature and design, Daucus Milano offers a wide range of lighting techniques and styles, all aiming at lighting up locations to provide them with well-being, character and functionality. Daucus Milano is a young lighting brand located in the city’s Bovisa district, born from an idea of the Italian/Chilean lighting designer Roberto Rodriguez who, after specific training and a long experience in the field, has put together a team of architects, lighting and product designers and marketing experts. For Daucus - a term derived from herbaceous plants with perfectly shaped flowers - the search for well-being is a passion which results in the design of lighting objects characterized by formal rigour combined with the best functional and material performance.

Daucus borrows modularity both from the model of organic growth in nature and from science - for example, the fractal is a geometrical object that repeats its shape identically at different scales and determines the structure of many natural species - to ensure freedom in the composition of the final product, as is the case with the Vitis lamps, which can be combined at will to create a practically infinite serie of shapes and combinations.

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GENTLEBRAND

Awarded Excellence of the year - Innovation Packaging Design 2022, Gentlebrand is the Italian Packaging Design Agency with international vision & scope that provides innovative and feasible packaging solutions in PET, Glass, Cans and Cardboard to Food, Beverage and Household & Personal Care global players. With more than 20 years of experience in the field and a wide network of partners, Gentlebrand has developed a unique and integrated design process that allows the packaging to be created simultaneously from both a creative and a technical point of view. Gentlebrand’s approach to packaging design allows the team to provide brands worldwide unique and original solutions, capable of enhancing the product to reach the market segment to be conquered. Gentlebrand’s recent projects include the multi awarded Aroma, the 100% clear R-pet recyclable bottle that revolutionizes the product system by introducing a bottle neck label made of organic seeds paper. The label is perceived as a distinct element, favoring its correct disposal. Moreover, the use of vegetable inks and the absence of glues makes it fully recyclable. Curtai, an original tribute to the Divine Comedy with a special limited edition of three wines, each coming with illustrations depicting the three symbolic settings of Dante’s journey. Finally Smily, which plays with evocative emoticons to make of it the perfect packaging for new soft drinks dedicated to young people.

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RICHARD YASMINE

A storyteller as well as a designer, Richard Yasmine was born and raised in Beirut, where he completed his studies in interior design and architecture. His passion for design started at a young age as a love of shapes, colours and materials, and he cultivated it in a family active in the high fashion industry. Yasmine created a complex imaginary, populated with images inspired not only by creativity and emotions but also by everyday life, current events and the city (from his Glory Holes table to his Ashkal wake up call mirrors), leading to sculptural objects that float between reality and imagination, controversial, requiring intricate production processes but also formally minimalist. Created after the blast on August 4, 2020, his well-known After Ago collection features rough surfaces made of foam, plaster, stone-clay and hand-painted black acrylic strips, with minimalist, nostalgic and rhythmic shapes revealing echoes of Memphis, Art Deco and Brutalism. The use of traditional techniques and materials - wood carving or inlay, metalworking, leather and embroidery - clearly shows the designer’s Middle Eastern roots. Made in Lebanon to order directly from social media channels and some international galleries, his collections are sold all over the world.

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ZATOO DESIGNSTUDIO

Zatoo Designstudio develops design creations in a perfect balance between playfulness and essentiality. The meeting between architect Martina Zappettini and architect Valerio Tunesi, who share the same background - architecture - gave life to Designstudio and to ZATOO (acronym of the initials of the two founders), a design collaboration that explores different scales and fields, from macro to micro, from art to industrial design. Versatility as a methodology and the creation of open design and production systems are the strengths and outstanding features of the studio which, adopting an approach borrowed from architecture, creates projects on a modular basis, paying attention to the function of elements and to the compositional structure, without neglecting the search for an aesthetic synthesis far removed from easy formalism. With the design of the CylinderChair seating system - winner of the A Award Design Competition in 2018/2019 as well as DNA Paris in 2019 - the geometric inspiration, which clearly hints at a Bauhaus derivation, is allied with a playful and almost pop spirit in the interactive gesture required by users, who are invited to customise the composition (in quantity, size, colour and fabric) by choosing the modular cylindrical components of the seat.

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EDEN LENNOX

Born in Perth, Western Australia, where she currently lives and works, Eden Lennox is an internationally recognised artist. After completing her undergraduate studies in Fine Art, she worked in theatre in her 20s and 30s, constructing sets and properties, trained in cold glass and as a silversmith. She holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree (Jewellery Production) and is currently completing a PhD in Art (Jewellery) at RMIT University in Victoria. Her pieces have been showcased in over 30 group and solo exhibitions in Australia and abroad. Her narrative jewellery is informed by material subversion paired with memory, recall, and social signals connected to gesture and the body. They are made following different techniques and with various found objects, such as vinyl records, miniatures, toys, assembled with precious metals. «Contemporary art jewellery connects with circuits of value because of the type of agency we, individually or collectively, assign to these objects. The associations may be personal or social, embodying emotive power, utility, and value. However, even the most private circuits, what we might call local loops, will still have points of contact with much broader networks. These concomitant relationships intersect with contemporary jewellery objects as found in the material world».

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LIA MILAZZO

«As a child I would spend hours playing with my grandmother’s jewellery box, untangling strings of pearls and stone necklaces... Before even identifying jewellery as ornaments, I discovered materials and the way they could reflect sounds, colours and different textures on a sensory level». After university and specialising in design, Lia Milazzo began to collaborate with various firms and companies for product design and development, as well as to make her own creations, which won several international contests. Lia draws on all styles and diverse artisan techniques: «I don’t want my work to be labelled. I enjoy surprising people. After all, I have always seen jewellery as constantly evolving». The pieces in the Motus Animi collection are also the result of her experience as a worker in a mechanical workshop, where Lia approached the world of small and complex mechanisms. It’s the so-called “kinetic jewellery”, mobile jewellery with a hidden mechanism for unexpected transformations. In gold-plated brass (or with other precious finishes on request) they feature adjustable little flaps that make the jewellery customisable, as well as a sophisticated pastime. Lia’s creations can be seen on the website liamilazzo.com.

STYLING: CAMILLA SACCARDI | MODEL: MARIA GIULIA NALDINI | MUA: BARBARA CORSO
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PHOTO: AZZURRA PICCARDI

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Chelsea and Jade are sisters from the Pacific Northwest. Chelsea practiced law and Jade was a leader in the tech industry before deciding to design jewellery in 2018.

Using the lost wax casting method, they create classic, substantial pieces with soft, buttery edges - the kind of jewellery they were always looking for, but could never find. Instead of facets and prongs, they choose cabochon cuts set in full cups of gold.

For them, luxury is something that is, above all, a pleasure to feel and touch, so they place a high value on wearability in designing their collections.

<<Coco Chanel said “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” and we feel the same>> they say. <<Jewellery should first be a pleasure to wear.

Our first priority is to design pieces that are beautiful and that feel good on the body, that respect the wearer: our jewellery communicates that true luxury is about private pleasure».

George Rings jewellery is also designed to suit all genders: «The jewellery options and traditions for men have been severely constrained for so many years. We love that we’re seeing a new bravery and interest emerging in men - the desire to wear fine jewellery beyond a wedding band. Nearly half of our customers are men. Our designs are meant for all genders, and we want to be at the forefront of supporting men in expressing themselves through jewellery».

All George Rings pieces are cast in solid 18k yellow gold only because, as the sisters explain: «its warmth and heft are unbeatable. We love that 18k is a little heavier than 14k, and that it has this softness that allows for just the right amount of patina. It shows the signs of daily life; it feels real. There is wisdom in accepting what is real and not resisting the facts of nature. Trying to maintain a high polish is not only exhausting, it also hides what is truly beautiful. Polished gold merely reflects what’s around it, while timeworn gold glows from within. It’s perfectly imperfect!».

George Rings pieces ship worldwide and are sold direct-to-consumer at georgerings.com.

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Romantic Minimalism.

This is how Marleen Hengeveld describes her Amma Jewelry’s creations: timeless and delicate jewelry pieces made in 18k gold with diamonds, pearls and precious stones. Graduated as a goldsmith and art historian in Amsterdam, Marleen was influenced by art and the age-gold techniques such as filigree. «My filigree collection is the one that can best represent me and my work. I love the contrast between a bold minimalistic frame and the delicate and detailed ornaments of filigree. Both in shape and technique, the tension between them is strong and difficult to balance. When they are in balance they look stunning together». Based in the Jordaan area in Amsterdam with her studio, Marleen worked for years attending various fairs, until, after the pandemic crisis, she settled down in her own atelier and aroused her neighbors’ curiosity. Then, they gradually spread the word all over the city. «Mostly people who love art and don’t care about the commercial brand name choose my creations. Men buy for their partners, but more and more women buy my creations for themselves». Surely all of her clients have in common the appreciation of Amma Jewelry’s craftsmanship.

ENEIDE GIOIELLI

Always a curious explorer of the world, Vittoria Curcio decided to name her brand ‘Eneide’ (Aeneid), evoking travel as a metaphor for new beginnings, discoveries and change.

«I created Eneide in 2010, when I finally landed in Mexico, the country that bewitched me after many trips and stays in Italy and around the world. Ten years later I moved to Milan to start a new adventure». Vittoria’s creations are designed by herself with her signature style and entirely handmade by Tuscan craftsmen with the wax casting technique, in brass coated with 24-carat gold or palladium. «I’m inspired by everything: people, nature, books, museums, works of art and everyday life. Mexico has often inspired my shapes; Italian craftsmanship makes them real today».

Gynko and Ramage are the two new collections launched by Vittoria in Italy during lockdown: the former takes the shape of a resilient plant, full of strength and positive energy; the latter is inspired by branches and roots. «Because - Vittoria concludes - you can’t fly if you don’t have solid roots, while a branch can wrap around your wrist, finger, neck to create a strong and sincere bond, spreading love and hope».

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THE CITRINE EMPOWERMENT RING. PHOTO BY VALENTIN SIVYAKOV GILLIAN KARATASSOS OF GILLIAN TRASK. PHOTO BY DOUG ORDWAY

Born in Los Angeles, Gillian graduated with a BFA from James Madison University, VA, and a BFA from California Institute of the Arts, CA, with a focus on graphic design. She travelled around the States, from New Jersey, New York, Virginia, South Carolina and Florida and now resides in Savannah, Georgia. Here she obtained her Master of Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design, with the goal to become a jewelry designer. Gillian Trask jewels are made of sterling silver and gold, sculpted by hand while in a heated molten state and infused with the power of the flame. «The melted metal designs its own story, embracing its raw imperfections, and not only celebrates the rugged beauty in us, but also enhances empowerment and confidence in people who wear Gillian Trask pieces».

The global crisis of the last two years was a big challenge for Gillian, who managed to focus on online sales, social media and online live shows. «Those live shows through Instagram and Facebook were our saving grace. I loved doing shows with other artists because we would cover multiple states simultaneously in the US. It allowed for higher exposure and a really fun experience for our guests». In the near future, Gillian Trask jewels - available online at gilliantrask.com, Kobo Gallery in Savannah and at Rachel Vogel Designs in Tybee Island - will contribute to the fundraising event for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Foster Children). «I’ll be competing in a local Dancing With the Stars event for CASA with a fundraising goal of $20,000. CASA’s volunteers help so many children in difficult home situations and my mission is to help CASA advocate and be an empowering voice for these children».

EMPOWERMENT CUFF PHOTO BY VALENTIN SIVYAKOV
THE VALHALLA RING, PHOTO BY DOUG ORDWAY

JOANNA ACHKAR JEWELS

Every jewel is exceptional and every collection has its own story. The brand Joanna Achkar Jewels was born in 2018 from the imagination of Syrian/Lebanese designer Joanna Achkar. After completing her Jewellery Design, Diamond Grading and Gemmology certifications from the HRD, she placed all her focus in designing pieces inspired by the world, to be worn by the eclectic and the bold. Every jewel is handmade in 18k gold with diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones. «Whenever I have an inspiration, I draw it on paper or I write its description on my phone! That’s how the Scintilla collection was born. I was in Italy, in Lake Como, having a walk at night and then I looked up to the sky and it felt as if it was a Disney movie!». The Scintilla line talks about dreams through diamonds that shine like stars. Colors, instead, are the focus of the Cosmic Candy collection, where painting enamels meets colored precious stones. «After everything we’ve gone through in the past couple of years, we need to see some happy colorful jewels!». Joanna Achkar’s jewels are available at i-DConcept stores (Athens), at Sauce Rocks (Dubai) and on her website. «The pandemic has brought hard times for any small business, especially in jewelry: but I tried to take that “time off” to put all my focus on social media and on launching the online shop».

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Yenthl Van De Kar was only three years old when she visited a goldsmith’s studio and she instantly understood how her future would be like: full of beautiful things to make. She graduated as a painter decorator first and then as a goldsmith at the Technicum Noord in Antwerp. «The training at TNA was exactly what I was looking for: the study of the ancient goldsmithing craft. Melting and alloying, pulling my own wire, making my own settings. From design to the pure raw material to a beautiful piece of jewelry, that is the method I love. In particular, I find it a challenge to make myself the smallest parts of a piece of jewelry, such as hinges and settings». Yenthl, who founded her own brand called Silverdust, takes inspiration from history to make her jewelry pieces and especially from the old Viking’s accessories and their manufacturing technique. The designer’s real challenge is to use all these ancient manufacturing techniques to make the perfect contemporary accessory to show and sell through her Instagram profile all over the world. «Anyone can send me a direct message on Instagram and I’ll be very happy to create a sketch for them following their ideas. From this design I’ll make a very unique piece of jewelry especially for them».

SILVERDUST
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LES MASCARONES

In architecture, a mascaron ornament is a sculpture or decoration depicting a human, an animal or a mythical creature. In the Ancient Greece it was a welcome sign and in Italy, during the XIX century, it became a symbol of protection. Thanks to Inga Macaron the mascarons find new life in a precious shape. The designer, originally from Moscow, founded Les Mascarones in 2014 thanks to her passion for historical buildings to preserve the cultural heritage of art. «My jewelry is my view as an artist on this world, on its past, present and future. This is my personal manifesto, my desire to preserve the beauty of my hometown and its reliefs in eternity». Les Mascarones are unique pieces - made in silver or gold plated silver enhanced with precious stones and pearls - based on the stucco decorations of historical buildings in Moscow and from other cities of the world. «The Moscow out of time collection, for example, is like a museum, where architectural monuments of Moscow are reflected in jewelry mascarons. Each product is unique and represents a masterpiece with a style without time». Les Mascarones gives architecture a new look, with a sense of aesthetics which combines different kinds of art in a new, interesting philosophy.

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JESSIE BENSIMON

Jewellery speaks a new, textural and at the same time emotional language through the creations by Jessie Bensimon, a French artist with a background in sculpture and engraving at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her works are real sculptures to wear, unique pieces shaped by the metals she selects to make them: mainly gold, silver and bronze, which meet the coloured facets of gems, delicate ceramics, and lightweight silk.

«I ‘paint’ the landscape inspired by these materials, the path towards which they drag me, until they resonate with the body. Each creation evokes wonderful worlds. A key to passing between dreams and the essence of reality, I see jewellery as an initiatory journey through materials, their energy and fascination».

Jessie Bensimon’s jewellery can be found in some galleries in France and Belgium which, after a sharp slowdown due to Covid-19, have also launched online sales on their respective websites. The galleries that share the artist’s vision include Sophie...etc!, Kara and Samagra in Paris, Bettina Flamant in Lille and Alto Galleria in Brussels.

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As a son of a professional jeweler based in Barcelona, Antoni Figueres soon felt attracted by the art of jewellery, in particular by the technique of fire enameling, which best suited his idea of making jewellery as a combination of artisanal tradition, painting and colouring: a technique, furthermore, which belongs to the art and culture of Catalonia. The name itself Antoni chose for his brand, Mountaber, comes from the Mont Tàber, the hill where the first nucleus of Barcelona stood at the time of ancient Rome, and shows the deep bound of his creations with the traditions of his region. The reinterpretation of Modernism - with its focus on nature and its elements - is the main characteristic and inspiration in Antoni Figueres’ collections, which comprise pieces in 18 carat gold (other caratages are available) and natural stones. Antoni is currently developing a new collection, coherent with his style, based on the fire enameling technique and inspired by nature, with butterfly and flower-shaped elements, and by the work of famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Antoni Figueres is going to attend the Artistar event during the Milan Jewelry Week in 2022 and Inhorgenta Munich in 2023. He is looking for distributors in France, Germany and Japan to expand his activity internationally.

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ROCCA JOYAS

Born in Vina del Mar, Chile, Daniela Morel Rocca attended a Fine Arts university, where she studied and trained in the oil painting technique. She then changed to Physical Education and became a Yoga teacher. It was during a Yoga class that she “fell in love” with one of her students’ ring, who connected her with the goldsmith who had made it. «I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was love at first sight» she explains. Daniela studied craftsmanship in precious metals, starting little by little to win customers until in 2018 she founded her own business and web page “Rocca Joyas”, focused on sustainability, reuse and recycling. She gives back to life old fashioned pieces or pieces of jewelry which are too big for our times, transforming them into something modern and stylish preserving its sentimental value. Daniela’s main source of inspiration is Art Deco: she works on each piece end to end, using mainly yellow gold, white gold, platinum, and precious gems. «The Pandemic helped me to develop my business, expanding internationally, and to grow as a person and a mother. In the future I want to keep developing my brand, keeping on using only recyclable precious metals, lab grown diamonds, also incorporating recyclable metals from electronics».

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ROSSELLA UGOLINI

Rossella Ugolini always had a passion for jewellery, or for “working small things”, as she explains herself: «My father, an engineer, would make me strip electrical wires with some sort of pliers when I was a child. I thought it was a lot of fun: then I started creating shapes with those copper wires». As an adult, and with a diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome as well as a degree in Art History, Rossella has lost none of the emotions of that child’s game: «For me, jewellery should express the mood and personality of the wearers, who should be able to identify with it and be happy to wear my creation».

Rossella is also inspired by a game she has always played: transforming her thoughts into a real thing, making ideas visible and material, as in her Silhouette and Castelli collections, inspired respectively by the dance movements and the architecture of the castles built for emperor Frederick II in Apulia. Her jewellery is made of gold, or silver for the bolder collections. Rossella designs them - often together with her clients - and makes them in her workshop in Rome, preferring hand drawing over CAD, which she perceives as colder and less natural; because, she argues, it is craftsmanship and attention to detail that make the difference.

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NANÀ ARISTOVA

Born in Siberia, Nanà Aristova currently lives in Sicily, where she operates her Lab and two boutiques in Palermo. She’s been keeping exploring various jewelry traditions all over the world until she finally fell in love with Bali craftsmanship: together with Ketut, a balinese lady who became her business partner and friend, she built a team of skillful lady artisans in Ubud (Bali) that handcraft unique jewelry, the result of contemporary designs combined with ancient traditions, passed down from generation to generation. The brand passionately believes in and promotes woman empowerment, supporting woman community: 95% of their artisans are women. «We strongly believe that deeply connecting to our partners, artisans and Balinese community should lead to building lifelong relashionships and support of generations of skillful and proud women». Nanà designs all the pieces in her Italian lab, personally making some of them and completing some technical operations such as gold and ruthenium plating. Her jewelry - which can be seen on the website nana-aristova.com - is handcrafted in sterling silver, gold vermeil and high quality gemstones. The Phylum Collection is entirely hand knitted by using silver or bronze wire: tiny natural gems are applied on some pieces.

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Grown up in a creative context, Yuki Kaneko followed his passion for jewelry thanks to his family. His grandfather is an oil painter and a collector of traditional Japanese crafts and abstract art, his father is a jeweler and his mother is a patchwork artist. He learned design, concept creation and manufacturing techniques at Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry and, from 2005 to 2021, he worked for a jewelry maker in Kyoto as a designer and brand strategy planner. To pursue his objective, he founded his own brand, Nodule: a concept beyond design, imagination and technology that combines traditional jewels and the NFT world. «The NFT project is just one way to express innovation jewelry. The digital world and real jewelry are essentially related and we are challenging the infinite possibilities of expression of jewelry works». Nodule focuses on two collections: Pushpin, that represents the aesthetic sense of Japan, and Adjacent, the transposition of light and shadow into abstract art. Both collections enhance jewelry as an art form full of meaning. «People use to emphasize only the value of materials and the visual design of fashion and jewelry, but I think there is another universal value. Jewelry is one of the elements that express the world made by the creators. I think this is my mission as a jewelry designer: to show a new world of jewelry creations that no one has ever seen». Nodule atelier is based in Tokyo and, in the future, the designer is planning to bring his creations also on an online sales platform.

PATRICIA CASEY

Actress and model in Buenos Aires and Miami, Patricia Casey shares her life between work and her passion for jewelry born at a very young age. «One day I saw one of my friends wearing a beautiful piece of jewelry and I found out that she had made it. So I started thinking that I could do it too». So Patricia started attending jewelry courses and making her own jewelry brand, Casey: an art form that shows the essence of soul, something that can influence the world around and bring some joy and beauty into it. Her creations are handmade and, thanks to their imperfection, they are very unique. «I personally design my jewelry, but I am also the person who makes them from start to finish! I sculpt wax and use linen, sandpaper and so on. My jewels are the real expression of my soul». Casey’s pieces of jewelry, made in sterling silver with semi-precious stones, feathers and natural elements, are available exclusively online, on her e-commerce, and are exhibited in her ateliers in Buenos Aires and Miami. «I’m online with my website but social media, particularly in the last couple of years, have helped me to make my brand known not only to people close to me but also around the world».

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Maragisca jewellery is the result of a project by architect Massimo Giorgetti - an interior designer with an attentive eye to sustainability - who approached jewellery in the early Eighties. He founded his brand in recent years to express and share his idea of bringing together contemporary design and authentic craftsmanship, the result of ancient goldsmith techniques and experiences. Maragisca creations are free from market trends or marketing strategies; they aim to deliver a new, highly personal concept of authentic vision and intimate simplicity that goes beyond all styles. With unique pieces or coming in limited editions, Maragisca jewellery is designed by Massimo Giorgetti and made of precious materials by Marco Ballini, a young Florentine goldsmith who followed in the family’s footsteps. As another hallmark of the brand, each piece is sold in a solid beech wood box treated with plant-based oil. With great attention to detail at every stage of processing, Maragisca provides unique creations for a specific niche of customers, who know how to “recognize” the perfect piece of jewellery to suit their personality. All Maragisca creations can be seen on the website maragisca.it .

MARAGISCA
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PHOTO: NICOLE FRANCESCONI

Watches & Wonders

Geneva, 30 March - 5 April 2022 • info: watchesandwonders.com

Inhorgenta Munich

Munich, 8/11 April 2022 • info: inhorgenta.com

IIFJAS - India International Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Show

New Dehli, 15/17 April 2022 • info: iifjs.com

Open - Il Tarì

Marcianise (Caserta), 29 April - 2 May • info: tari.it

Artitoode Genoa

Genoa, 29 April - 12 May 2022 • info: artitoode.com

you at

GemGenève

Geneva, 5/8 May 2022 • info: gemgeneve.com

Oroarezzo

Arezzo, 7/10 May 2022 • info: oroarezzo.it Best Wine Stars

Milan, 14/15 May 2022 • info: bestwinestars.com

Packaging Première

Milan, 24/26 May • info: packagingpremiere.it

*Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, event dates are subject to change or cancellation. Please check the status of your event in the website.

Milano Design week

Milan, 7/12 June 2022 • info: milanodesignweek.org

The Couture Show

Las Vegas, 9/12 June 2022 • info: thecoutureshow.com

JCK Las Vegas

Las Vegas, 10/13 June 2022 • info: lasvegas.jckonline.com

Jewellery & Gem Asia Hong Kong

Hong Kong, 16/19 June • info: jewellery.jewellerynet.com

Istanbul Jewelry Show

Istanbul 24/27 March 2022 • info: istanbuljewelryshow.com

New Designers

Week 1: London 29 June - 2 July 2022

Week 2: 6/9 July • info: newdesigners.com

HUESERS - 140
may april
_see
*
june

*not to be missed _

_MILAN _ROME

Mudec

Until 27 March

Piet Mondrian. From Figuration to Abstraction

mudec.it

Royal Academy of Arts

Until 17 April

Francis Bacon: Man and Beast

royalacademy.org.uk

Galleria Borghese

Until 22 May

Guido Reni and Rome. Nature and Devotion

galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it

_RIEHEN _VIENNA

Fondation

Beyeler

Until 22 May

Georgia

O’Keeffe

fondationbeyeler.ch

_LONDON _MADRID

CaixaForum

Until 5 June

Cine y Moda.

Por Jean Paul Gaultier

caixaforum.org

Albertina Museum

Until 19 June

Edvard Munch.

In Dialogue

albertina.at

143 - HUESERS

_TURIN _THE HAGUE

Musei Reali

Until 26

June 2022

Vivian Maier

Inedita

museireali.beniculturali.it

Palazzo Bonaparte

Bill Viola.

Icons of Light

Until 26 June

Jago.

The Exhibition

Until 3 July

mostrepalazzobonaparte.it

Kunstmuseum

den Haag

Until 3 July

Alphonse

Mucha

kunstmuseum.nl

_PARIS _LONDON

Centre Pompidou, Musée

d’Art Moderne de Paris, Musée du Louvre, Musée

d’Orsay, Musée National

Picasso Paris, Musée

Yves Saint Laurent Paris

Yves Saint Laurent

aux Musées

Until 15 May

museeyslparis.com

_ROME _FLORENCE

Palazzo Strozzi, Museo Nazionale del Bargello

19 March / 31 July

Donatello, il

Rinascimento

palazzostrozzi.org

Victoria and Albert Museum

19 March / 6 November

Fashioning

Masculinities: The Art of Menswear

vam.ac.uk

HUESERS - 144 not to be missed_

Hangar Bicocca

31 March /

31 July Steve McQueen

pirellihangarbicocca.org

_NEW YORK

Whitney Museum of American Art

6 April / 5 September

The Whitney Biennial whitney.org

Gallerie dell’Accademia

20 April /

9 October

Anish Kapoor gallerieaccademia.it

_MILAN _VENICE _VENICE _CHICAGO

23 April / 27 November

Biennale di Venezia - 59a

Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte labiennale.org

_BERLIN

Neue Nationalgalerie

29 April /

28 August

Barbara Kruger smb.museum

Art Institute of Chicago

15 May /

5 September

Cézanne artic.edu

*Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, event dates are subject to change or cancellation. Please check the status of your event in the website. _not

145 - HUESERS
to be missed

TASTING EVENT

MASTERCLASSES & AWARDS Wine Companies Champagne Maisons Spirits Companies 250 Milan 14th - 15th May || h. 12:00 - 21:00 PALAZZO DEL GHIACCIO For Info & Reservations | info@bestwinestars.com | + 39 02 36580208

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