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.
