Vintage toy soldiers, fiches from the fifties, glass disc and numbers of cuivre: the jewels by Francesca Villa are a world in miniature, made of small objects collected in many travels or discovered by chance in an antique shop or in a market . Manufactured with gold in different hues, diamonds and colored gemstones, pearls, coral, each of these pieces is a story itself, connected to a person, or to a place or a special time. But beware not marking them as sentimental jewelry, not confuse them with the nostalgic typical flavour of the Victorian era: Villa’s creation have nothing to do with a feeling of regret. Indeed, they are ironic, curious and show unexpected combinations, such as German vintage soldiers, purchased in Boston by collector and set in a gold circle from which set out rays studded with precious stones like they were fireworks, or surrounded by hearts, doves and musical notes. Lightheartedness in contrast with military model and not by chance the collection was named Joie de vivre. M.d.B.
