Ivan Barbato is a craftsman of the Italian goldsmith tradition who has his creative laboratory in Cardano al Campo in the province of Varese. And the hills surrounding that area of Italy are covered with flowering meadows in spring. An inspiration within reach for Barbato, who produced individual pieces inspired by the delicate shape of the flower. Corals, shells and turquoises are shaped, carved and adapted to the shape of the flowers, with patient chisel work. An example is the jewel called The Roses of the Heart: an engraved turquoise gem, which becomes a pendant with a rotating counter-link in yellow and white gold. On one side the flower is a calla, on the other a lily (1,970 euros).
Floral Harmony, on the other hand, is a ring in white gold with curvilinear shapes that bloom into a rose made with coral of the angel skin variety (2,600 euros). The Love Nectar ring and pendant are made of white gold and diamond. They are handcrafted with the fretwork technique. There are very few goldsmiths capable of carrying out this technique, once typical of the Florentine tradition. The jewel can be personalized with an engraved writing (ring 2,950 euros, pendant 3,000 euros). Another pendant, Mother Nature, is a carved sardonic shell flower from which the yellow gold body of an Art Nouveau sea mermaid emerges (3,210 euros).
The Shell Flower pendant is made with a Cassis Rufa, known as a cameo shell, modeled through burin engraving and partly wrapped in a yellow gold structure. The style is Liberty. A drop-shaped freshwater pearl (2,600 euros) is attached to the pendant. Another pendant, Fiore d’amore, is made with yellow gold and red coral hand-engraved in the shape of a rose (1,520 euros). Finally, Spring Pinwheel is a pendant in white gold and coral also in the shape of a rose. The gold part reproduces the veins of a vegetable bark that surrounds the flower (3,190 euros).
