Old and new Verdura Jewelery at Masterpiece London ♦ ︎
Fulco Santostefano of Cerda, Duke of Verdura and Marchese of Murata la Cerda. With a name so who would ever bet that Verdura would become a symbol of jewelry? Yet it is so. The Sicilian noble (March 20, 1898-15 August 1978), usually abbreviated in Fulco di Verdura, is still a trademark, surviving the disappearance of its creator.
Like designer, Fulco Verdura started with Coco Chanel in Thirties, thanks to the support of Linda and Cole Porter, his fans. Chanel asked Fulco di Verdura to get more brilliant some of the jewels of the Maison. During eight years the Italian aristocrat has played the role of chief designer for Chanel jewels. Fulco left Chanel in 1934 to reach America, with Baron Julian West and Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley. First in Hollywood and then in New York, where Diana Vreeland, a Chanel’s customer, presented Fulco di Verdura to jeweler Paul Flato. After working with Flato, Verdura opened its small Maison with financial support from Cole Porter and Vincent Astor. His childhood in Sicily and the Italian Renaissance were the two driving headlights for his work.
Disappeared the jeweler’s extravaganza, the Verdura brand was purchased by EJLandrigan, a company led by Ward and Nico Landrigan. The goal is to continue the work of the great Sicilian designer. So at Masterpiece London 2017, for example, the jewelery company presented historic pieces of Fulco di Verdura, along with new jewels, as you can see from this gallery of images. Lavinia Andorno