Giappone Archives | gioiellis.com

What are akoya Pearls?

Published on March 28, 2023

What are akoya Pearls? If you intend to buy a pearl necklace or pearl earrings, a bracelet or a ring made with these small spheres produced by special molluscs, it is easy for you to come across the term akoya, which distinguishes a particular type of pearl. But what are Akoya pearls? If you are curious, discover the characteristics of these pearls and, of course, the origin of the name akoya.

Collana di perle akoya — Mazza, collana di perle akoya

Akoya pearls are a variety of cultured pearls known for their beauty and luster. These pearls are grown in salt water and are the fruit of a type of oyster they grow in, Pinctada fucata martensii. These oysters are mainly grown in Japan, although cultivation technologies have also been developed in other countries, such as China and Korea. However, akoya pearls are available all over the world. This variety of pearls are considered the quintessential classic pearls. They were first introduced to Japan in the late 19th century, and have since become one of the most popular pearls in the world.

Characteristics of akoya pearls
As we have said, akoya pearls are appreciated for their luster, but also for their brilliant color and regular shape. Luster refers to the pearl’s ability to reflect light, creating a luminous effect on the surface. The color of akoya pearls is generally white or cream, although they are available in other shades such as pink, gold and silver. The round shape is considered the ideal shape for akoya pearls, but they can also be oval, teardrop or baroque. Akoya pearls are generally smaller than other cultured pearls, ranging in diameter from 2 to 10 millimeters. However, there are also larger akoya pearls that can be as large as 12-13 millimeters. These beads are commonly used to make jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Cultivation of akoya pearls
Cultivation of akoya pearls begins with the selection of ripe oysters, which are then grafted with a piece of mantle tissue from another oyster. This tissue stimulates the oyster to produce mother-of-pearl, or nacre, a substance that coats the nucleus of the implanted tissue, forming the pearl.

Bracciale con perle Akoya e diamanti di Yoko London

Pearl cleaning
Akoya pearls are considered a symbol of elegance and sophistication, and are often worn on special occasions such as weddings and formal events. They are also a great choice for gifts, especially for women who appreciate fashion and design. Be careful: Akoya pearls are quite fragile, so they must be treated with care to avoid scratches or damage. Avoid exposing them to chemicals or heat, and it is best to clean them gently with a soft cloth after use.

Assael, bracciale in oro con perle Akoya

The origin of the name
The term akoya comes from the name of the oyster that produces these pearls, or the akoya oyster according to the Japanese name (Pinctada fucata martensii). These oysters grow naturally in the coastal waters of Japan, where the water is rich in nutrients and minerals that promote pearl growth, and where akoya pearls were first cultured in the late 19th century. The term akoya is Japanese for salt water, which reflects the environment in which these pearls are grown.

Bracciale della linea Milano con perle Akoya gialle indossato — Alessio Boschi, bracciale della linea Milano con perle Akoya gialle indossato

What are maki-e pearls

Published on March 22, 2023

Campus

Perla di Tahiti lavorata con la tecnica maki-e

The word maki, in Japanese, means roll, as those who frequent sushi restaurants know well. Maki-e, instead, indicates an ancient pearls manufacturing technique. It is quite rare technique and often is associated with a mosaic processing.

Orecchini con perle maki-e di Deirdre Featherstone

This technique consists in adding lacquer and 24-karat gold powder paint and tiny abalone tesserae to the pearls. The result is small decorated and even more precious pearls. Maki-e, in particular, is a painting technique developed a thousand years ago in Japan. The lacquer is applied to the surface of the pearl, and then mixed with gold or silver powder paint. The mosaic applied to pearls is, however, a more recent technique, but is often used together with the maki-e process. Only South Sea pearls are used to create these creations.

Pendente con perla di Tahiti e pesci Koi di Judi McCormick Jewelry

Maki-e is a traditional Japanese decoration technique from the Edo period. Each bead is hand decorated using a combination of Urushi lacquer (from the Japanese Urushi tree), 24k gold dust and abalone shell.

If you have never seen a pearl worked in mosaic or painted with the maki-e technique don’t worry: they are very rare. In the world there are only four manufacturers of pearls decorated in this. In the US, Eliko Pearls distributes these pearls, which sells them at a price between 300 and 1200 dollars each.

Orecchini con granati, diamanti e perle a mosaico di Deirdre Featherstone

Collana con pendente: perla maki-e di Deirdre Featherstone

The simple truth of Shihara

Published on December 15, 2022

Showroom

Anello eternity in oro giallo 18 carati con diamanti sul bordo

The world is divided into two: those who love elaborate jewels with large colored gems and those who love simple and no-frills geometries. The Japanese jewelry designer Yuta Ishihara, inspirer of the Maison Shihara, belongs to this second category. Indeed more. Because her jewels amaze with the desire not to exhibit richness or unusual shapes. In reverse. For example, Shihara offers an eternity ring that has diamonds inside the gold band. In short, when you wear the ring, diamonds are not seen: only the wearer knows. The ultimate in modesty and minimal philosophy.

Not only. Shihara also uses simple but unusual shapes, such as the open cube-shaped earring, which seems to float on the ear and is available in different sizes. Yellow gold and diamonds are the basis of the designer’s work. But there are also Akoya pearls: in this case the philosophy of subtraction pushes Yuta Ishihara to cover half of the sphere with a gold patina. The result is a jewel with half a pearl.

Raised in Yamanashi, a prefecture in Japan renowned for its jewelry production, the designer moved to Tokyo, a dynamic city that inspired the geometric shapes of her collections. And also destined to last a long time, according to Yuta’s wish, because beautiful and simple things are those that are handed down.

Anello eternity con diamanti all'interno della banda d'oro — Anello eternity con diamanti all’interno della banda d’oro

Orecchino in oro e diamanti a forma di cubo

ANELLO QUADRATO — Anello in oro rosa quadrato

The movie jewelry by Iosselliani

Published on October 8, 2022

Collana in argento placcato oro, quarzo rosa, cubic zirconia

The collections of the Roman brand of imaginative Iosselliani bijoux ♦

Two collections a year of jewels, precious at least for the ability to compose colors and shapes. The Iosselliani jewelry are in Rome (the first store opened is called R-01-IOS), in the Pigneto district, but there are also in Tokyo and Osaka, in addition to being distributed in New York and by some online store.

Anello composto da otto cerchi di argento

Iosselliani is one of those brands that relies entirely on design, fantasy, on the combination of shapes and colors. Despite the company’s name is Georgian, like the filmmaker Otar, the House was founded in 1996 by two Italians: Paolo Giacomelli and Roberta Paolucci designers, former collaborator of Missoni. The Iosselliani eclettism relies entirely on the ability to mix styles and inspirations, including the ethnic jewel and the hi-tech. Metal and colored cubic zirconia come together in pieces that often seem puzzle composed of many small pieces, like the Mandala collection of which you see the pictures on this page. They have gold threads and fringes, intricate messages, tinkling sounds. They are also very showy and therefore are highly sought after by costume film or photo shoots. After all, some ideal relationship with the director they have it.

Collana con pendente a forma di ghepardo in argento placcato e cubic zirconia

Orecchino in argento placcato, cristalli e perla di acqua dolce

Orecchini pendenti in argento ed elemento placcato oro, perle di acqua dolce

Bracciale in argento ed elemento placcato oro

The raku jewels by Francesca Trubbianelli

Published on October 2, 2022

The raku jewels by Francesca Trubbianelli. Don’t you know what raku means? Well, read here ♦

Big and eye-catching, yet very light: these are the jewels by Francesca Trubbianelli, made with the raku ceramic technique. This is a centuries-old Japanese tradition used to make the bowls of the tea ceremony, which the Umbrian artist has adapted on her jewels working by subtraction on a heavy material like clay (if you want to know more about this technique click here) . All the pieces are made entirely by hand and are inspired by the depths of the earth, the fire that burns inside, melts everything and unites, and then water that cools and fixes. A bit like the ceramic process.

The consistency, the gravity, the darkness of the earth take on conical and round shapes, forged on the surface by irregular spheres, which take light with the enamel and are tied together by soft, bright and warm threads of fabric such as velvet and cashmere. To put on the heart. Born in Assisi (Umbria), where she lives and works, Francesca Trubbianelli graduated from the Perugia Academy of Fine Arts in 2005. She is then specialized in Raku ceramics and technique with a course taught by the American artist David Davinson. Today she organizes courses to teach this ancient technique.

Orecchini di Francesca Trubbianelli indossati

Kuwayama to discover

Published on September 12, 2022

Showroom

Choker vincitore dell' Craftsmanship Award Economy, Trade and Industry Minister's Award (JJJA Awards). È composto con rubellite, diamanti, zaffiri rosa

Kuwayama is a large Japanese jewelry company. It’s time to learn something about it ♦

In Europe many identify Japan with the auto or technology industry. It is commonplace: Japan also has, for example, a tradition in jewelry. Kuwayama is, perhaps, the best known name, also for the size of the company, which is even listed on the stock exchange. Founded by Yukihiro Kuwayama in Sumida-ku, Tokyo, in 1970, the company immediately saw the jewelry from a very industrial point of view, with factories in China and Thailand, as well as Japan.

Born to work precious metals, the company has grown and evolved, to become a consolidated brand also in the design of the jewels, as demonstrated by the numerous international awards (33 at the moment) won by Kuwayama, the latest as Manufacturer of the year at the JNA Awards 2018 in Hong Kong Jewelery & Gem Fair in 2019. The company also has a branch also in Europe, in the capital of diamonds, Antwerp. The jewels offered by the Japanese house are the most varied: from collections with diamonds and semi-precious stones, to lines that are based on Swarovski gems. But most of the production is reserved for other jewelry brands, which use elements such as metal chains.

Collana in platino, diamanti e zaffiri vincitrice ai JJA Jewelry Awards 2018

Kuwayama, collana in platino composta da bolle, Best in Platinum ai Couture Awards 2018

Platinum Design Awards 2009, The Best Award, Nature Inspired Category

IL premio vinto a Las Vegas nella categoria Best in platino

The Tasaki’s zen pearls

Published on August 26, 2022

Showroom

The luxury jewelry by Japanese Tasaki, design and pearls ♦

If the Japanese Zen gardens will be transformed into jewelry, you probably could find it among the Tasaki collections. Pearls, simple shapes, but dazzling, great quality: the light, fresh, clear of the Japanese brand jewelry are intended for those who love the clean lines and classic modernity. The company cultivates and trades in pearls since 1950: it is the main activity, which gives work to a thousand employees. In 1962 he started designing jewelry.

Danger Tribe large earrings in oro bianco e perle Akoya

But the breakthrough came in 2009, with the Thai designer Thakoon Panichgul, who has also created jewelry worn also by the American First Lady. The collaboration has yielded some of the most successful collections. And also introducing a breath of renewal. For example, with the use of inverted diamonds, combined together with the pearls as opposed elements of a unitary balance. La Maison not only uses Akoya pearls, but also South Sea. Next to jewelry using pearls also offers classic collections of rings, necklaces or bracelets in gold and diamonds.

Collezione Comet, orecchini in oro bianco, perla e diamanti

Collezione Comet, anello in oro bianco, perla e diamanti

Collezione Comet, anello in oro rosa e diamante

Collana Danger Fang in oro giallo, perle, diamanti

Anello Danger Spike in oro giallo e perle South Sea

Kataoka flowering

Published on August 6, 2022

Showroom/Rings

Orecchini Twin Peaks con diamanti baguette

In Japan, the cherry blossom, a special event that is awaited by the whole population, moves to the jewels: they are those of Kataoka, a company founded in 2011 in Tokyo by Yoshinobu Kataoka, designer and goldsmith with over 25 years of experience. The Less is more collection summarizes the designer’s philosophy: small diamonds that dot thin chains and that are on the skin like the rarefied stones of the Zen gardens.

A few years ago, despite being quite young, the brand took second place in the Bridal category at the Las Vegas Couture Show. It is therefore a brand of jewelry to keep an eye on, and also because it has a style that arouses some interest. The jewels have a design that, in some cases, recalls that lightness that is found in traditional watercolor prints. Small flowers intertwine as on a branch in rings and pendants, with handmade milgrain edges, and an ad hoc diamond cut. The design sometimes looks like the embroidery of snow crystals magnified under a microscope. Gold and diamonds are the main ingredients, with the addition of some colored stones, sometimes combined with unusual nuances, such as the pendant with three large stones: pink sapphire, tourmaline and ruby.

Diamond Calyx Ring Dome — Anello Calyx con diamante bianco e giallo

The delicate Orient of Gimel

Published on February 12, 2022

alta gioielleria/Showroom

Orecchini «camerieri», in platino, diamanti, rubini

The ancient Japanese art transformed into fine jewelry by Gimel ♦ ︎

She is a kind, 80-year-old Japanese woman who lives and works in a small town in southern Japan, Ashiya. She is Kaouru Kay Akihara, but the name of her little Maison, Gimel is more famous. Although small, this studio-workshop has become famous for its refined jewelry creations, ranging from pieces inspired by the delicate Japanese pictorial art to those with a more Western style.

The designer, Akihara, received an extensive education in her youth, which included many traditional Japanese arts.

Pendente per collana o spilla con diamante rosa vivido e coccinella con zaffiro cabochon

From the difficult art of writing, Shodō, to the ability to compose a space even with voids as well as with the volumes: the particular Japanese sensibility is applied to his creations. The designer began her career in the seventies, involving only the best craftsmen to create her jewels. An example of Gimel’s work is the Lotus brooch, with diamonds and garnet sold by Christie’s. Or a pendant necklace and brooch designed like a flower, centered on an oval-shaped purple diamond, oval-shaped, weighing about 1.39 carats, inside a pavé surrounded by petals wrapped with pink and colorless diamonds in brilliant cut, accompanied from a ladybug pin with cabochon sapphire and brilliant cut diamonds, mounted in platinum and 18k yellow gold.

A special Jewelry exhibition will be held from February 19 to June 19 2022 at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo. The exhibition features around 200 types of rough and polished stones. But also 60 works by Gimel, including funny brooches.

Spilla a forma di foglia in platino, diamanti

Spille in platino e diamanti a forma di cani

Anello con smeraldo ottagonale e diamanti

Spilla con zaffiri, granato demantoide e diamanti

Spilla Lotus, in platino con una fiore con petali di diamanti rosa e incolore, con la centro un granato demantoide dal taglio circolare e foglie di diamanti gialli

Everyone on a diet with the food jewelry

Published on December 23, 2021

/Rings

Do you happen to like food, but have you eaten too much lately? Instead of going on a diet you can limit yourself to wearing these jewelry in the shape of food by Norihito Hatanaka ♦

Melon, zucchini, citrus fruits: no, they are not the ingredients of a detox diet after the big binges, but of necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets, so realistic that you want to eat them, except that they are made with resins. The idea comes from Norihito Hatanaka, a Japanese artist of display food, a very common custom in the Japanese restaurant industry, who launched his own line of jewelry with traditional Asian and Western dishes.

There is the brass bracelet covered with bacon (fake, of course), the pendant with cream and strawberry shortcrust pastry and fork, the pork necklace with vegetables, the pancake ring with a lot of maple syrup and butter . They can be found on the website http://ii-fake.com/ and prices range from 2 to 9 thousand yen (from 18 to 60 euros). To visit only when you are not hungry. However, Hatanaka does not only create jewelry food, but also elaborate reproductions of Japanese, Western, Chinese food, sweets, bread and sandwiches, fruit, ingredients and drinks: it is difficult to distinguish fake food from authentic food.

Orecchini a forma di pancetta con pepe nero

Yutai, Japanese style high jewelry

Published on November 28, 2021

Rings/Showroom

Anello La Reine in platino, rubino, diamanti

High jewelry made in Tokyo. To propose it is Yutai, a brand founded by the designer Yuta Ishihara. The style that characterizes Yutai combines the rational minimalism of Japanese design with the exuberant Western abundance. With one aspect to underline: the designer’s goal is to create jewels that can last over time. The unique pieces are made with precious metals such as yellow or white gold, but also platinum, and with precious stones such as rubies and emeralds, but also by combining together semi-precious stones such as quartz and topaz. Or select Akoya pearls together with ruby pearls for modular necklaces (Rihanna also bought one).

Before moving to Tokyo, where he graduated in 2008 from Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, the designer was born and raised in the Yamanashi region of Japan, which is also a jewelry district, as well as the area where it is located. Mount Fuji. The first jewelry brand he founded, however, is called Shihara, distributed all over the world as well as online. But if Shihara is a fine jewelry brand, Yutai is two steps above and combines formal research with luxury.

Collana con perle Akoya, rubini, quarzo rosa

Anello La Reine in platino, smeraldo, diamanti

The new jewelry by Natsuko

Published on November 27, 2021

Argento/Showroom/Rings

Japanese design, sculpture and Milanese avant-garde: it is the mix at the base of Natsuko Toyofuku ︎jewelry ♦

The simple and ingenious design of Japan inspired by a sculptor’s soul. Natsuko Toyofuku, known as Natsu, is a jewelry designer who lives and works in Milan, with a showroom workshop in one of the nightlife streets, Corso Como. Born in Japan, she has lived in Italy since she was a child. Her father, Tomomori Toyofuku, was a great sculptor active in the sixties and seventies, a bridge between the Japanese tradition and the western avant-garde. And the mother, Kazuko, was a painter.

With this imprinting, Natsuko has developed her creativity in jewelry. She use silver and bronze, with the addition of pearls, a classic element of Japanese jewelry, along with enamel, natural stones. But above all, her jewels are distinguished by their unusual shape, sculptor to wear and which does not go unnoticed. Crafted by craftsmen, Natsuko Toyofuku’s jewels turned out to be a shock in the eighties, when the designer started the business. Now, however, they are generally accepted and have won over a wider audience.

Buccellati flagship store in Ginza (Tokyo)

Published on October 13, 2021

news

La boutique di Buccellati a Ginza (Tokyo)

The Ginza district of Tokyo is a paradise of luxury. Here, in Namiki-dori Street, a historic street for the most exclusive flagship stores of the main international brands, Buccellati has opened a new boutique. The Japanese flagship store opens after about 50 years of Buccellati presence in Japan, with corners in the best department stores and through multi-brand retailers. The Ginza boutique is on two floors and has an imposing facade, characterized by the iconic windows of the brand, topped by a decoration on glass that represents the logo of the Maison.

The architectural concept adopted by the Milanese Maison, which passed under the signs of the Swiss Richemont group, aligns with the atmosphere of an extreme luxury shopping: a large staircase leads to the second floor, enriched by a coral counter and a VIP room for private sales. Buccellati has been present in Japan since 1972, when it teamed up with Wako to be able to exhibit its creations in the exclusive store in the heart of Giza.
The collaboration with Wako will continue, as will the various shop-in-shops and directly managed corners in Takashimaya Nihonbashi and Osaka, Mitsukoshi Nagoya and soon Hankyu Osaka, together with the Isetan Shinjuku pop-up store.

Yoshinobu Kataoka, the surprise of Japan

Published on August 3, 2021

Rings/Showroom

From Japan to Las Vegas: the success of a master of jewelry with the touch of the Rising Sun, Yoshinobu Kataoka ♦ ︎

What can the Japanese spirit do when it enters a jewelry workshop? Simple: like Yoshinobu Kataoka, an artist and goldsmith with over 25 years of experience, who in 2011 created his Maison, with stores in Tokyo and New York. Kataoka has followed his vocation through the cleanliness and minimal, among the vocations of the Rising Sun and the glitter of the stones that come from the markets of the West. The result is a delicate jewelry, without pomp, where the richness lies in the details as the milgrain borders, that is with tiny beads, handmade, innovative cuts and diamond settings. A work that has also received a prestigious award: a Couture Best Design Award 2019 in the category Best in Diamonds Above $ 20,000.

Anello Fiocco di neve, con rubino e diamanti

Kataoka jewels are handmade in Tokyo. Gold is customized in special alloys according to the requested specifications of Yoshinobu Kataoka, which also underlines one aspect: no harmful chemicals are used in the jewelery production process. All the pieces are handmade with precious stones and diamonds hand-picked and set and produced in limited quantities to guarantee a minimum environmental impact.

Lantern earrings for Lebole

Published on April 23, 2021

Orecchini/Showroom

Lebole earrings ready for the tea ceremony. The new Lebole Gioielli collection called Tourou, which is the Japanese name for a traditional lantern made of stone, wood or metal and which is often found in traditional gardens, for example outside the pavilions where the tea ceremony takes place. This collection of lantern-shaped earrings is developed in two different pairs of asymmetrical pieces. The earrings are designed with a lantern on one side and a Japanese ideogram on the opposite side (Japan is the passion of the designer Barbara Lebole).

The lanterns are decorated with stones and tassels as in oriental culture and are matched in colors with silk. The lanterns in Japanese gardens were introduced by Buddhist monks as prayer altars and are meant to symbolize the depth of the spirit. In fact, from a spiritual point of view they are a safe place where the spirit can rest during the mystical path in the garden. The lanterns installed in the less visible areas of the gardens symbolize an unexpected point of arrival and thus indicate an inner journey. The materials used in the collection are gold galvanized brass, natural stones and silk from an ancient Japanese kimono spread over wood.

Orecchini della collezione Tourou con seta verde giada

Orecchini della collezione Tourou con seta rossa

Orecchini della collezione Tourou con seta celeste

Orecchini della collezione Tourou con seta blu e nappa

Bamboo becomes precious with Silvia Furmanovich

Published on December 2, 2020

Showroom/Orecchini

Orecchini in bamboo, oro 18 carati, diamanti e tormalina verde

Fine jewelry can be made using simple bamboo. The answer is yes, if the designer is Silvia Furmanovich, a Brazilian who has already used plant material for her refined jewelry. In fact, Silvia Furmanovich’s new collection is called Bamboo and uses this plant that is very widespread in Asia in an innovative way. To learn all the secrets about bamboo, the Brazilian creator went to Japan, where it has also been used for millennia to create woven handicrafts.

Bamboo is a very ductile and fast growing vegetable, but it is also very hardy. To create her jewels, thin strips of bamboo are cut and curved in the intricate weaves of Japanese knots: a process requires experience and, above all, an Olympic calm. In the Bamboo collection, the fragments of this plant have been woven together with 18-karat gold, precious stones and diamonds. The collection is also the result of a partnership between Silvia Furmanovich and Instituto Jatobás, founded by Brazilian philanthropists Luiz & Betty Feffer, who is committed to influencing and expanding sustainable life and consciousness in the South American country. And, in addition, it has dedicated an area of over 80 hectares to the cultivation of bamboo in Brazil.

Anello con bamboo e smeraldo Muzo di SIlvia Furmanovich — Anello con bamboo e smeraldo Muzo di Silvia Furmanovich

Bracciale in oro giallo, diamanti, rattan, bamboo

Orecchini in bamboo, con perla dei Mari del Sud

Orecchini in bamboo, diamanti, topazio blue London

Kataoka essential

Published on October 2, 2020

Showroom/Rings

The minimal jewels by Yoshinobu Kataoka: pearls, stones and Japanese spirit ♦

In 2011, Yoshinobu Kataoka decided to go ahead alone. The Japanese designer, who graduated from the Faculty of Visual Design of Seika University, Kyoto, left the position of chief designer that he held in the family business and started to create his own, original jewellery. Within a few years, his brand, Kataoka, has gained recognition for its creative designs in pastel colours.

As in the drawings of old Japanese masters such as Hokusai, the tones are muted, even when using bright gems such as tourmaline and tanzanite.

If you like pearl jewelery, Kataoka offers collections with delicate nuances, in which small flowers bloom next to opalescent spheres. The design is simple, without too much volume and concentrating only on what is essential. With 25 years of experience, Yoshinobu Kataoka loves to follow all the stages of jewellery creation, from design to the finished piece. He also does not forget to pay attention to the environment: too much wastage of raw materials in the jewellery industry he says, so the gems he chooses and the way he processes his jewellery are designed to leave minimal impact on the environment. Kataoka jewels are handmade in Tokyo with gems and precious metals, but with provenance from conflict-free countries. Gold is an alloy created to Yoshinobu Kataoka’s unique specifications.

Orecchini in oro rosa con diamanti e smeraldi

A philosophical butterfly for Lebole Gioielli

Published on June 8, 2020

Showroom/Orecchini

The word Cho or Chou (蝶紋) in both Chinese and Japanese indicates more or less the silhouette of the butterfly. And since the world of the fascinating East is the source of inspiration for Lebole Gioielli, here is a collection that takes up the shape of the butterfly. The Cho collection consists of asymmetrical earrings representing a girl-butterfly on one lobe and a butterfly seen in profile on the other.

It’s not all here: the butterfly, explains Barbara Lebole, represents the protagonist of an ancient oriental tale that teaches something interesting about the meaning of life. According to the legend to which the Maison refers, a man was widowed and had to take care of his two daughters. The girls, very curious and intelligent, continually asked questions to the father who was not always sure of giving the right answer. So the man decided to send them to live by the sage, in order to be sure that they were well educated.

To measure man’s wisdom, the girls decided to trap him by asking him a question he would not have been able to answer. The older sister went out into the open and after catching a butterfly she hid it in her apron. They decided to ask the sage if the butterfly in their hands was alive or dead and to act accordingly on the response. If the sage said she was alive, they would have killed her. If, however, she said she was dead, they would fly her away. With this trick, the essay’s answer would still have been incorrect. But the wise answered simply: it depends on you, since the butterfly is in your hands.

The butterfly, according to Lebole, represents life in our hands of ourselves. Who would have thought that a pair of earrings could give a philosophy lesson?

Japanese kimonos transformed into earrings in the Tan-Mono collection by Lebole Gioielli

Published on December 27, 2019

/Orecchini

Lebole Gioielli is a brand so tied to the world of fabrics. And it is not a news that Japan‘s charm is the leitmotif of its collections, given Barbara Lebole’s preference for the Land of the Rising Sun. Here, then, is the Tan-Mono collection.

Lebole Gioielli, orecchini della collezione Tan-Mono

The tan-mono, in fact, is a roll of fabric from which a kimono is obtained, the traditional dress of Japanese women. The fabric is 36 cm wide, i.e. the maximum width of a traditional Japanese loom. Precisely for this reason the kimono is packaged in strips. The length of the tan-mono instead varies according to the size of the kimono. Even today, in traditional kimono shops, the customer chooses and buys the tan-mono and the garment packaging is separate.

In the case of Lebole Gioielli, on the other hand, Japanese tan-mono are spread on leather with a particular procedure. And then they are transformed into earrings. In the Tan-Mono collection the pair of earrings is made up of two equal elements. In the symmetrical composition geometric figures are used decorated with stones of different colors and mounted in gold galvanized brass.

The collection is designed by Paolo Perugini, an eclectic Tuscan artist, who extends his art from sculpture to architecture to arrive at fashion as in this case. Public price: under 70 euros.

The bridal jewelry collection by Melania Fumiko

Published on November 23, 2019

Showroom

From wedding dresses to jewelry. And from Japan to Milan, passing through New York. Melania Fumiko Benassi, a designer specialized in wedding dresses, presented a jewelry collection inspired by the Ginkgo Biloba leaf.

The choice of the subject, an exotic plant, is consistent with the designer’s double name. From a Trentino family, she lived in Japan as a child and then in the USA. And the second name (Fumiko) was chosen in honor of a teacher of the tea ceremony. From the Land of the Rising Sun Melania Fumiko has also brought pleasure to the clean lines that characterize Japanese design.

The jewels are designed to complete the outfit designed and created by the designer, but also as a gift for witnesses and bridesmaids. The Ginkgo Biloba leaf, among other things, also has the symbolic meaning of rebirth, vitality and immutability of things. And the irregular pavé of yellow sapphires and emeralds is inspired by the seasons of autumn and spring.

The collection consists of earrings, bracelets, necklaces, cufflinks and rings, handcrafted by a Milanese goldsmith workshop. The materials are 18-carat white, yellow and pink gold. Each jewel is handmade and is available in a gold-only version, or in gold and pavé-set with precious stones or brilliant-cut diamonds, mounted to make the gems brighter (they should also receive light from the back surface). In addition to the women’s line, men’s cufflinks are also available in 925 silver.