Paillettes is the name of one of Chantecler’s most successful collections, and also one of the most fun. In 2014, the Capri jeweler thought of this collection as something that retains the bright colors of the island in front of Naples, but also the elegance of a sunset in front of the sea rocks. A sparkling jewelry, with small round mobile elements, made with the en tremblant technique, which increase the pleasure of moving with the jewelry on.
Now the Pailettes collection is renewed with new pieces, many bracelets, and colors such as aqua green, pink, Capri blue, in addition to the more classic black and white. The color of the round elements is made with the ancient cathedral enamel technique, a traditional process that was used in Art-Nouveau jewels. L’icône de la Maison, symbole du coq stylisé, apparaît désormais dans les éléments circulaires classiques de la collection, avec une silhouette rappelant le signe graphique du cœur. Ces icônes sont en or avec un petit pavé de diamants à l’intérieur.
A stage at the opera for Schreiber
Milan, the capital of design. But also of jewelry stores: there are some, like Schreiber, with a long and pleasant tradition, which continues to renew ♦
Simplicity is the antechamber of elegance, and the good taste is in the next room. Schreiber, from longtime Milanese jeweler (the third generation, with Giacomo and Federico) has not problems to support the silver with enamel with classic collections in gold and precious stones.
The jewels made with the least expensive silver, though, do not forget the daisy, the symbol of the jewelry that was founded in 1948 and now operates again in the center, in via Borgospesso. In perfect Milanese style, the jeweler offers a luxury not scream, although don’t has limits in value elements, such as the gems selected by the founder’s son, Giacomo, who after graduating from the Gia, personally chooses the stones to be used for the collections. The style is one that combines modernity with classic dedication to luxury: gold, often white, with alternating stones, often mounted in the classical form daisy. In short, jewelry that are perfect for a premiere at the Teatro alla Scala.
The new jewels by Alice Cicolini
Alice Cicolini’s new jewels: the Indian tradition of enamel ♦ ︎
Among the descriptions of herself that Alice Cicolini provides, there is this: former director of Arts & Culture for the British Council in India, she remains closely linked to Indian craftsmanship and design. This is the starting point of one of the most refined designers in London. For example, she uses a technique called champlevé, a glazing tradition that artisans in India prefer to work on 23.5 carat gold, given the softness of the metal it allows a more detailed and expressive work.
The enamel, explains Alice, is a combination of earth, pigmented glass and metal, heated to fire and used in the grooves created by the engraving on the metal and then polished with agate stone to create extraordinarily vivid colors. Much jewellery is made in Jaipur, Rajasthan, but for some time much of our work is now made in London by master craftsmen from the city. Following the Indian tradition, Alice Cicolini also uses this technique, with surprising results, alongside the classic precious stones such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Like the new pieces that the designer has created, but which always follow her personal style, a bridge between the great India and the West.
Jewelry with Botticelli by Freywille
Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus are famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance. They are tempera paintings on wood painted by Sandro Botticelli between 1480 and 1485 and today they are kept in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Both paintings are among those images that have been reproduced many times to become a kind of icon, like the equally famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
Now Botticelli’s paintings have also become the source of inspiration for a collection of the Viennese brand Freywille, which has always created collections that have large paintings or works by famous painters as their subject. The collections dedicated to Botticelli consist of rings, earrings and necklaces, 18-karat gold chains with a pendant hanging from them. Botticelli’s Primavera and Venus, however, are barely mentioned, perhaps for a copyright issue, or for an artistic choice. The jewels are also in gold, with lively enamel colors that recall some features of the painting.
Spring in color with Kultro 925
The number 925 referring to silver indicates an alloy composed of 92.5% silver and the remaining 7.5% of another metal, often copper. It is also the best quality of silver used in jewellery, which inspires the Kulto 925 brand, which offers collections that always use this precious metal. But not always in the original white colour. Indeed, different types of processing make silver colored. This is the case, for example, of the vast Colors collection, which offers lively jewels for everyday use.
Colors by Kulto 925 offers necklaces, rings and earrings with an essential design made of 925 silver with different finishes. In particular, the collection includes pendants declined in different colors and a bold ring model. The jewels are finished with many enamel colors, which also have small cubic zirconia embedded: white, black, purple, green, yellow, grey, fuchsia, blue. The silver also has a gold finish. Necklaces 64 euros, rings 39 euros, silver rings covered with colored zircons 49 euros.
Being born in Valenza, as happened to Dario Scapitta, often means being destined to work in the world of jewelry. Valenza is the Italian capital of fine jewelry. But the roads are not always straight. Sometimes they lead out of the city. Dario Scapitta, for example, first took the direction for Milan, where he devoted himself to the study of set design and interior design at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. Then, he headed north, until he reached Holland.
In the Country of Tulips the designer remembered his roots and decided to take care of jewelry. But in his own way, with a very minimal and very Nordic style. The jewels of his brand, Dario Scapitta Design, are designed and produced in the Netherlands in a very limited number of pieces, to order. The lines of bracelets and necklaces are simple, as are the materials used: silver and enamel. Jewels that in 2023 also led to Inhorgenta, the Munich fair that offers a large space to the world of bijoux.
The ancient but new jewels by Chris Davies
The unique pieces by Chris Davies, a New York designer who uses ancient techniques for his jewelery ♦ ︎
In New York there is a jewel artist who loves to discover and use ancient processing techniques. It is, sure, an attitude not widespread in the city that more than any other is a symbol of dynamism, change, speed. Chris Davies, however, in college has studied ancient civilizations and art history. When he become a jeweler, he decided to combine his passions and creates pieces made up of hundreds of tiny 18-karat gold beads (the granulation technique used in ancient Greece), or he creates jewels with the cloisonné technique, a particular enamelling, difficult realization, which dates back to ancient Egypt, was in vogue during the Byzantine Empire and more recently in China. Technique that used for the recent collection, Silk Road.
An art form which, he explained, will soon disappear, because only the oldest artisans are still able to use. Or Davies weaves 18-karat gold pearls on steel wires. Each piece, he explains, takes two to six months to complete. There are also jewels made of rare stones, selected for their particular shape or appearance: tourmalines, demantoids, citrines (but green), moonstones (but peach-colored), sapphires (but orange) and so on. An example is the Delos necklace, made with the 18-carat white gold granulation technique, hematite, white topaz and blue-green amethyst. Prices? Chris Davies’ jewels are unique pieces, like the price of his jewels: on average from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars.
The evocative world of Elena Okutova
From St. Petersburg to Moscow to Geneva. Elena Okutova is one of the new generation Russian designers, who combine the Russian goldsmith tradition with the desire to innovate. The designer returned to GemGèneve autumn edition, where she was also present last year, but in the Vivarium Quartet area, while last year she was Emerging Talent. Her jewels are elaborate, dense and made with the use of traditional techniques, including silver, enamel and gold, which are accompanied by gems. In addition to the way of working rings or pendants, the jewels also reflect Russian traditions, fairy tales, tales and folklore, with references to ancient history.
Elena Okutova studied artistic metalworking at Moscow State University and founded her own brand in 2009 in tandem with her mother Irina, who accompanies her. The jewels are first modeled by hand in wax and then made with engraving, enamelling, setting. Oriental references are intertwined, such as the Ottoman turban-shaped ring, but also with Chinese or contemporary art. They are unique pieces that make the designer’s work original and evocative at the same time.
A little color with Armiss
Armiss is an acronym of the name of the team that two years ago gave life to the brand: Arianna, Michele, Silvia and Stefania. Michele Elettro, with thirty years of experience as a goldsmith in Valenza (Italy), in 2004 founded his first atelier, Modellart, which worked on behalf of established jewelry brands. Silvia Raselli, on the other hand, has a professional experience with Damiani behind her and, before that, a diploma as a gemologist at Gia in New York. They are the two engines of the creative side of Armiss. The brand, born in the period of the pandemic, perhaps for this reason is proposed as a cheerful reaction to the gloomy atmosphere of that period.
Armiss’s jewels are of quality, in gold and diamonds, or semi-precious stones such as malachite, but also a touch of color thanks to the enamel inserts, which make the production of the young Maison suitable for forgetting the sadness and misunderstandings that accompany the life. A touch of vivacity that, without being excessive, can be in tune with the style of those who love to get out of the usual patterns.
The elegant Sari by Alice Cicolini
The sari is the typical female garment worn in India, but also Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal: it consists of a fabric ranging from 4.1 to 8.2 meters in length, which is wrapped around the waist and over the shoulder , partially uncovering the navel. But there are many types of sarees: one of them is called lehariya and inspired the British designer Alice Cicolini, who graduated from Central St. Martins and was also the Director of Arts and Culture for the British Council in India. In fact, colors and shapes of India have always been a source of inspiration for the designer, who, despite her Italian name, is English.
The collection is called Sari and uses 14 karat gold, together with enamel and semi-precious stones, such as garnet, opal, carnelian, but also sapphires. The colors used for the collection reflect those worn by Indian women: bright red, for example, in the tradition of a Hindu wedding sari symbolizes love and couple connection. But the glaze also serves to add geometric patterns like the traditional paisley. Small bird silhouettes make up the shape of stud earrings.
Roberta Marinelli and Giovanni Selvi are founders and owners of the Dvccio brand. For those who are not Italian, it is necessary to specify that the name is written as it was in ancient Latin and, therefore, it is more easily pronounced as Duccio. Which is also a typical Tuscan name: in fact, Dvccio is based in Sansepolcro, near Arezzo, one of the Italian jewelry districts. Not only that: the brand is also the expression of a company that has worked for years as a supplier of chains and more: the Egr Italia Group, which gave birth to the Dvccio brand, chaired by Giovanni Selvi, while Roberta Marinelli is director delegate.
Among other things, Dvccio is also planning a brand extension with Dvccio Jewel Bag, an innovative line of jewel bags that can be personalized with your own initial. It is the same philosophy as the jewelry of the Tuscan brand, which also has a line of jewelry with the letters of the alphabet. Dvccio focuses on fashion jewelry in bronze or silver, sometimes treated with galvanic gold, enamel or semi-precious stones, handmade. The brand has already conquered its space in Italy and has appeared on foreign markets in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, with good success.
The name ReRe is not very common, not even in America, where ReRe Corcoran lives and works. The designer founded ReRe Jewelry, based in New York, although she is originally from Boston, where she studied. Her jewels are very fashionable in the New York that matters. But in addition to being fashionable, the designer is also an innovator: she has developed a revolutionary enamel manufacturing process. With the colors of this material ReRe creates jewels that sometimes allude also to the psychedelic season of the sixties, with a hypnotic mixture of shades. In addition to enamel, ReRe jewels are made of 18 carat gold.
One aspect that is probably related to the previous activity of ReRe Corcoran, who after studying painting at Boston College, worked in the fashion industry in New York. Another aspect that characterizes the Maison’s jewels is the almost obsessive repetition of the hexagonal shape. According to the designer, the hexagons at the base of the beehives are evidence of a highly efficient geometric shape. There is no lack of charity in the ReRe Jewelry business: the proceeds from a collection, Angel, go in part to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Gold, diamonds and enamel in Crieri’s C-Type
It is called C-Type. It is a line of jewelry that marks an innovation in the world of Crieri. The Maison of Valenza, in fact, owes much of its fame to the specialization in tennis-like jewels, in particular bracelets and necklaces in white gold and diamonds. For some time, however, Crieri has opened its doors to other types, with extremely luxurious jewels, such as the Bogotà collection in Colombian diamonds and emeralds, or with a completely different style, as in the case of the C-Type line. The name also indicates the choice to inspire the shape of the jewels to the letter C, initial of Crieri.
The consonant was subjected to a design cure to evaluate and recompose the geometry of the alphabetic letter. The resulting jewels are thus composed of soft and modern lines, with diamonds and precious stones set and in 18-karat gold. Rings, earrings and pendants in white, yellow or pink gold. Lines of stones, one next to the other, make up the C, in a pavé of diamonds and also proposed with sapphires in shades of pink or blue. In an enameled version, the blue color sets the shape of the white gold pendant.
The enameled Mini by leBebè
Spring news for leBebé Gioielli, which expands the catalog with new proposals. One of these concerns the I Mini enamelled line. Also in this case, as is the tradition of the style of the brand created in 2007 by Paolo, Fabrizio and Mariana Verde, owners of Lucebianca, the silhouette of the child is at the center. Born as jewels to celebrate new births, leBebè bracelets and necklaces have become ornaments not linked in particular to motherhood. The icon thus becomes more generically a symbol of femininity.
After 15 years, in fact, Lucebianca has decided to refocus the brand with the aim of continuing to cultivate the community of mothers to which it has been addressed up to now, but also to broaden the target. The collection consists of four rounded pendants in 9-carat rose gold, decorated with colored enamel in the shades of teal, indigo, fuchsia and purple. The creations are available with adjustable degradé ecological cord, with a maximum length of 80 centimeters. The retail price is 180 euros.
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As a child Liza Borzaya had the nickname of puppet, which in Russian is called Pinocchio. Many years later, she had the temptation to call his Maison of jewelry. Like the character of the fairy tale written by Carlo Collodi. Then, however, Liza Borzaya simply gave her name to the Moscow-based fine jewelry brand and New York office. She defines her style as “bold, but beautiful, bright, but elegant, status, but not trivial. And that’s right.
It could be added that her jewels are crossed by that passion that is common in the Russian people, by a romanticism that is fascinated by nature and by the trust that many passionate customers place in the designer. Her business card, she says, was a bracelet with swallows that she created for herself in 2011, after working five years in a large European Maison. In 2015 he founded her brand. Liza Borzaya works on commission: she asks how much she wants to spend the client and gets to work. If the sketch on paper is approved (and it practically always happens), she realizes the jewel. Even the goldsmith’s work is carried out by her team of artisans, who also take care of the delicate interventions with colored enamel.
How is enamel jewelry made? And how to clean your jewelry with colored nail polish? Here’s how it is done and what colored enamel is: learn the techniques used in the goldsmith’s art ♦ ︎
Jewelery with enamel, colored jewelery, jewelery with an ancient tradition. Enamel jewelry is colorful, vibrant, and even refined when crafted by skilled craftsmen. This technique, in fact, requires great care and a lot of patience. Do you know how jewels are made with colored enamels? If you want to know more, read this article, which will reveal the different techniques used to make a jewel with enamel. In fact, there is not a single way to obtain enameled jewels.
How it’s made. Enamel is a colored coating that has been used in jewelry for centuries. It consists in the fusion of colored glass on the metal of the jewel, of course only on the part to be colored. The enamel is crushed with a special mortar until the glass is reduced to a powder. At this point it is applied to the metal, gold or silver, but also to steel. To get the right effect, the jewel is heated to a temperature of up to 900 degrees centigrade. This heat melts the glass powder, which has turned into enamel. The jewel is then left to cool slowly.
The cloisonné technique. The most famous technique is called cloisonné. In jewels made with this technique they have the contours of the ornamental motif composed of gold threads, which are then welded to the surface of the jewel. These threads serve to delimit the hollow spaces (in French cloison) that accommodate the melted enamel. Each space has a defined color and the jewel ends up with a geometric design.
Champlevé. The champlevé technique involves an incision of the surface to be filled with the melted enamel. Engraving is obtained by digging the metal with a burin. The colored glaze will be poured into these cavities. In practice, this form of enamelling consists in depositing different colors in cavities previously excavated in the surface of the metal.
The cathedral. The technique called a cathedral is also known as “a day”. In this case the areas to be glazed are perforated, that is, they do not have a base. The enamel adheres to the internal walls of the cavity obtained with the tunnel. But color is not used in this technique: the enamel is transparent to create reflections and plays of light. It was widely used with the Art Nouveau style.
How to clean enamel jewels without damaging them?
Use a dry, soft-bristled toothbrush. Use the toothbrush to remove any debris, crumbs or dirt that has stuck to the jewelry, but don’t scrub too hard. If that’s not enough, one of the classic and rather surprising grandmother’s tips is to use breadcrumbs. Bread can be effective, in fact, when used as a swab that removes dirt like a pencil eraser would. Of course, after using the bread, remove the crumbs with the toothbrush, you have to gently dry the jewel with a soft cloth.
Enamel is a resistant material, but since it is something that is applied to metal, with too vigorous cleaning there is the risk of causing scratches or, worse, damaging the enamel. To clean cloisonné enamel it is best to use a microfiber cloth. Last remedy for stubborn dirt: use warm distilled water with a few drops of detergent. Someone recommends diluting a spoonful of ammonia in a cup of water, but you have to be very careful not to damage the colored surface.
Dress Up with Emily P. Wheeler
Precious jewels, but also suitable for informal clothing, with colored gems, enamel, gold and geometries designed to amaze, but not too much, with a taste. From Los Angeles the designer Emily P. Wheeler launches the new Dress Up collection that, she says, is deliberately also a bit kitchy, with great use of pink, the favorite of girls. In short, also dressing with jewels, but in a cheerful, young, ironic way. And, not surprisingly, it’s a liveliness that arose in Emily’s mind as a natural reaction in the lockdown period.
Like many other colleagues in the industry, Emily P. Wheeler also started her profession as a young girl, with beads, cords, silks and tassels. A passion that she kept as an adult, so much so that she abandoned her career as a public relations manager to devote herself to jewelry, in 2016. She deepened the techniques of composition, identified the artisans capable of translating her designs into collections and, last but not least less important, she has become a certified member of the Responsible Jewelry Council and regularly works with sustainability consultants throughout the material supply chain.
The jewels by Masterstrokes, in gold, gems and refined enamelling technique. And some Vipassana meditation ♦︎
Jaipur, an Indian city with a thousand suggestions. The pink city is also known around the world for being one of the capitals of jewelry. And here, in Jaipur, a company has been active since 1941 which is now known as Jewels Emporium, run by the Bohra family and, today by husband and wife, Anup and Smriti Bohra. Alongside the gem trade, in 2001 the company launched the Masterstrokes brand. In addition to gold and gems, Masterstrokes jewels use the ancient art of French enamelling.
With over 300 shades in its palette and expertise in low taille, pliqué-a-jour and champlevé glazing techniques, Masterstrokes creations are admired, worn by women and owned by passionate collectors. They are obviously handcrafted jewels. Curiously, this technique was also used for a collection that is inspired by a completely different subject from the usual ones of jewelry, that is love, flowers and animals. The Indian tradition, however, is very present, the result of the Vipassana practice, one of the oldest meditation techniques in India, which means seeing things as they really are. Curiously, one of the Masterstrokes collections is dedicated, however, to the popular story of Jekyll and Hyde.
This 18-karat gold ring from the Jekyll and Hyde collection, for example, is shaped like a butterfly with diamond-encrusted wings, set with a 7.56-carat fancy cut Mozambican ruby. The wings fold gently to reveal a champlevé enamel side. It can be worn in two ways. The jewel was handmade with 3.74 carats of brilliant cut diamonds in 315 hours of work.
Never the future is sure, and never say never with NeverNoT. On the other hand, it was not easy for three women friends who came to London from distant Georgia, a country between Russia and Turkey, to invent a jewelry brand. Yet Nina Dzhokhadze, Natia Chkhartishvili and Tamara Svanidze have succeeded. And the capital letters of the Maison’s name indicate the names of the founders: Dzhokhadze manages sales and business development from London, while Chkhartishvili and Svanidze manage design and manufacturing in their native Georgia.
The jewelry has a unmistakable and playful style: the oversized cocktail rings are made of 18-karat gold, enamel of various colors and large semi-precious stones. The bright colors make the jewels immediately visible. In addition to the rings, NeverNoT also offers large earrings with or whitout fringes. The price of the jewels fluctuates between 2000 and 4000 dollars and can be purchased online. after receiving many compliments, the goal of the jewelry brand is now to establish itself internationally, a strategy that also passes through the next participation in specialized fairs.
Foundrae, the past is revisited through necklaces with medals, rings and … ♦
Story of a fashion manager who becomes a successful jewelry designer. Not only that: Foundrae jewels are considered trendy, really sophisticated, very original. She is Beth Bugdaycay, who in 2015 together with her husband Murat founded the Maison in New York. Until that year you were CEO (in Italy a position equivalent to that of CEO) of the Rebecca Taylor brand. But the vocation to jewelry was sudden and irresistible. So, in a matter of days, she left her position as a manager to become a jeweler.
But following a path that belongs to her: the jewels, in fact, have a very different shape from the others. They look like coats of arms, medallions, coins, chevaliers, and in some cases even those colored paper rings that surround Cuban cigars. Everything was born, says Beth, from her family traditions, which date back as far as 1200. A family crest, a book on which the stories of her ancestors run after each other, inspired the vaguely vintage style, but in an exclusive way. The jewels are made of gold, with colored enamels and some small diamonds placed in strategic points. But the impression is really of something different, which is why Foundrae’s collections were immediately considered very cool in New York.