Meini Gioielli, the Florentine goldsmith’s tradition always has its charm ♦ ︎
The story is that of many other artisan realities of jewelery: the young apprentice who learns the secrets of craftsmanship, get to own business, opens his shop and also finds his stylistic way. So is born Meini Gioielli, a Florentine artisan shop. The story begins in 1963, when at the age of 14, Cesare Meini “entered as an apprentice in the artisan workshop Ricci, one of the most famous masters in Florence in the 1960s.”
The shop is located right in the heart of Florence, near the Ponte Vecchio. Here, Cesare Meini learns the ornamental design, shaping, the art of the drilling and, above all, the engraving. In the sign of the Florentine goldsmith tradition, it accumulates experience until 1971, when he get to be on ufficial register of craftsman and opens a goldsmith workshop in the historic center of Florence. In 1977 the activity was transferred to Rignano sull’Arno, a village near Florence, where the Tuscan goldsmith he still realize their creations, together with their children Leonardo and Lorenzo. Meini’s jewelry remains anchored in Tuscan style and tradition: white and yellow gold, worked, perforated, with floral forms and sometimes precious stones of a certain volume.
