Buccellati’s Milan atelier keeps the art of Italian jewellery-making alive
At Buccellati’s Milan atelier, centuries-old engraving and goldsmithing techniques remain central to the creation of the maison’s jewellery, watches and silverware, forging a direct link between Italian craftsmanship heritage and contemporary design
Milanese luxury maison Buccellati was founded in 1919, the year that goldsmith Mario Buccellati opened his first boutique. The business has since spread across the northern Italian city, from the neoclassical Palazzo Gavazzi on via Napoleone, home to a sprawling Buccellati boutique, to its temporary exhibitions during Milan Design Week. In 2020, the year that the family firm joined the Richemont Group, another Buccellati address was added on via Brisa, near Milan’s Duomo. A 1919 building designed by important local architect Piero Portaluppi is home to the Buccellati offices and workshop.
Buccellati currently operates six workshops; four are dedicated to jewellery, one to silverware and one creates watches. These are spread across Italy and beyond; a site near Como masters a particular twisted metal thread technique, silversmithing takes place near Bologna, while a Swiss workshop is charged with making jewellery watches – a category that was first presented in 2000. In Milan, Buccellati’s team of artisans focus on overall design and the making of unique high jewellery. Grouped on benches, there are specialists in stone setting, polishing and engraving, among others.
‘The workshop has always been our essential base, throughout the history of Buccellati. There is a very important connection between creativity and production,’ says Andrea Buccellati, the maison’s creative director. ‘When I create new pieces, it does not end with the initial design. There are many collaborations with the artisans, to explain a piece, to work out how we do it.’ Part of the founding family’s third generation, he first joined his father, Gianmaria Buccellati, as an apprentice aged 16. ‘When I was a kid, I loved to spend time in the workshop and work with the artisans. It was like a recreation for me! I learnt how to make the jewellery, I saw how they made it, and to understand this business.’
Good To Know
At Italian heritage maison Buccellati, skilled artisans create jewellery, watch and homeware masterpieces using centuries-old techniques. From Italy, and in the case of Buccellati watches, Switzerland, these then are on display around the world, from specialist fairs like TEFAF Maastricht, to the brand’s standalone boutiques, which include a townhouse address in Mayfair, London. Seen opposite, a hand ring in yellow, white and pink gold. Tactile and intricately textured, the ring is set with 14 brilliant-cut diamonds and one oval ruby.
The workshop has always been our essential base... There is a very important connection between creativity and production
Much of what happens today inside the Buccellati Milan atelier is a type of material sorcery, or perhaps mimicry. Since Mario Buccellati first opened his boutique, his name has been linked to innovative techniques of working metal to echo the structure and surface of other materials. The intricate patterns of delicate Italian lace or airy tulle fabrics have inspired Buccellati creations cast and carved from precious golds and silver. Elsewhere, contemporary Buccellati designs nod to the Italian art of jewellery-making practised during the Renaissance. This includes the telato (cross-hatched lines that intersect at a right angle) and segrinato finishes, which give metals the look of linen and velvet respectively. Yet another technique, the lavishly textured ornato, is inspired by the damasks, laces and brocades of the Renaissance. ‘The connection between workshop and artist is most important,’ says Buccellati. ‘It’s a collaboration that has continued through generations. Without the artisans, there can’t be a Buccellati.’
At Buccellati, precious alloys are shaped to take on myriad forms and textures. The Eternelle line of pieces, for example, makes gold appear as spun lace. Seen left, a Rombi collection Eternelle ring in white and yellow gold, finessed with a total of 60 brilliant-cut diamonds.
