Brilliant! The Future of Italian Jewellery

Curator Alba Cappellieri, director of the Museo del Gioiello in Vicenza, sees the future of Italian jewellery five-fold: Admirable Manufacture, Everyday Beauty, Avant Craft, Precious Technologies and Collective Creativity. The 50 contemporary necklaces on display at La Triennale di Milano, as part of the Brilliant! The Future of Italian Jewellery exhibition, have been chosen to represent the themes of traditional ways of working precious materials, everyday luxury and artistic exploration, and the potential of rapid prototyping and 3D printing.

Precious materials range from fabulous coloured gemstones and diamonds, courtesy of Giampiero Bodino and Bulgari, to Pomellato’s tailored jet and rose gold chain links. The Pastries necklace by Moschino and the undulating creations by Gaetano Pesce express the whimsy of resin. Francesca Villa and Sandra Di Giacinto explore the possibilities of paper in necklaces of rose gold, sapphires and bingo numbers, while Mattia Cielo’s industrial chain of carbon, diamonds and gold, and Margherita Burgener’s naturalistic titanium, gold and silk flowers, demonstrate contrasting approaches to new materials.

A jewellery exhibition in a design and manufacturing context such as La Triennale di Milano is a vital opportunity for cross-fertilisation. Visitors as disparate as lovers of classic bling and industrial designers can study objects that might otherwise be inaccessible or off the radar in exclusive boutiques. The Brilliant! exhibition reminds us that beauty, imagination, innovation and craftsmanship thrive at all levels.

Jewellery is both an industry that is integral to Italy’s economy and a key piece of its artistic heritage. To emphasise the latter, the necklaces are displayed on white plaster portrait busts. The contrast between their modern, minimal whiteness and Renaissance female forms embody the key to the five-fold future of Italian jewellery.