VicenzaOro Spring starts. With a setting that has attracted the attention of many, not least (apart from, obviously, Gioiellis.com) the major newspapers. «Il Corriere della Sera», for example, publishes a long interview before the Andrea Palladio International Jewelery Awards, the international prize awarded within the Vicenza event. The jury is led by maestro Gianmaria Buccellati, but also includes Béatrice Salmon, until a couple of months ago director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (her Galerie des Bijoux collects 4,000 pieces from different eras, of which 1,200 are on display). One of the best fashion & c journalists, Giusi Ferrè, had a long chat with her. «A jewel is not made only of precious stones, and precious stones are not enough to determine its quality and value. It is the designer’s creativity that makes it even more precious”, explains Béatrice Salmon to Giusi Ferrè. What you ask: what are the criteria for evaluating a jewel: purity of the design, rarity of the material, contemporaneity? «A jewel must combine both innovative design and the preciousness of the material, and must be made with exceptional technical knowledge», replies the expert. «The purpose of a jewel is to speak of its time».
And she adds: «The historical vision allows us to observe a sort of fluctuation between precise and geometric shapes and, on the contrary, a more baroque abundance. But in our world all forms of expression coexist.” The article flies high: Adolf Loos wrote that ornamentation is a crime. Isn’t it, on the contrary, an instinctive pleasure that we cannot escape? «Without any doubt, Loos’s famous phrase could not be written today, because we no longer have debates or taboos on the topic of ornament». Designers judge design, stylists judge fashion. What do you think of a historian like yourself? Does it come naturally to you to compare the present with the past? «Naturally having a degree in art history favors an approach to the phenomenon with analytical tools that reposition the designer in a historical trend. But this cannot be sufficient, we must consider it fundamental for each object.” The conclusion of Ferré’s article is also interesting: what is the most significant characteristic of contemporary jewellery? «Jewellery is going through a moment of intense creativity. And the expansion of markets multiplies cultural references, which can only bring benefits to this sector.”
