By Tanya Dukes
For one entire evening, the fourth floor of Buccellati’s new Manhattan flagship store was transformed into an art gallery of sorts. To christen the retail space, housed in an elegant Madison Avenue townhouse, the revered Milanese brand introduced a capsule of five high jewellery pieces dubbed “Timeless Blue”. Each was inspired by a different impressionist or post-impressionist masterpiece painting, and on the night of the collection’s big reveal, the luxury jewellery was displayed alongside the canvases that sparked their creation.
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Creating the jewels was a joint effort between creative director Andrea Buccellati and his daughter Lucrezia – the 26-year-old is the first woman to design for the house, and the fourth generation to join the fold. The pair had access to an incredible treasure trove of art from which to source inspiration, thanks to Lucrezia’s husband David Wildenstein, who is part of another fabled family business, Wildenstein & Co. art gallery.
The masterpieces included the Winslow Homer painting entitled “Light Blue Sea at Prout’s Neck” – a water scene whose windswept waves were transformed into a high jewellery white gold cuff with undulating, diamond-studded lines. Mikhail Larionov’s “The Spider’s Web” also featured, which was reimagined as an oversized yellow and white gold fine jewellery ring, the delicate workmanship of which creates an openwork dome over the finger. Also included was Pierre Bonnard’s “Deux Vases de Fleurs”, which took the shape of a floral pendant complete with seven yellow diamond blooms. Each piece from the Timeless Blue high jewellery collection displays signature Buccellati design signatures, such as audacious scale, expert engraving, and intricate goldsmithing.
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In all, it required more than 4,000 hours during the course of a year to produce the high jewellery pieces – not including the time devoted to designing them. For Andrea Buccellati, creating the Timeless Blue collection was more than an opportunity to burnish the house’s jewellery design legacy; it was an exciting chance to collaborate with his daughter: “For a father, it’s beautiful to see our family’s traditions continue. Working together has been part of the transformation to make Buccellati more modern. We’re preserving our style and quality but with a fresh, new evolution.”
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The expression of strength and passion, displayed in Homer’s painting, is replicated in the design of Buccellati’s new elegant and refined high jewellery diamond bracelet.
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Larionov’s painting provided the inspiration behind Buccellati’s white gold and diamond spider web ring, perfectly demonstrating its unique honeycomb technique.
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As in Monet’s painting, the light is captured within the honeycomb surface of Buccellati’s white gold pendant earrings, magnified by the Paraíba tourmalines and diamonds.
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Buccellati’s high jewellery wing earrings, entirely handcrafted with the Tulle technique and reminiscent of Redon’s “Fall of Phaeton” painting, fly along the earlobe. The feather-like elements of the ear cuffs are set with diamonds, and a subtle hook prevents the earring from falling.
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The complex design of Buccellati’s white gold pendant earrings stays true to its enchanting style, infusing elegant curls with 1,066 round brilliant-cut diamonds and 354 Paraíba tourmalines.
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The strength of Redon’s painting is that imagination is stronger than image, and this has been replicated in Buccellati’s high jewellery diamond ear cuffs.
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This one-of-a-kind diamond bracelet by Buccellati was created by Andrea and Lucrezia Buccellati, inspired by Homer’s painting of the ocean.
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Buccellati’s white gold high jewellery bracelet has been inspired by Homer’s painting. The Tulle technique reproduces the sensual movement of the wave and is entirely set with diamonds.
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Buccellati’s honeycomb technique fits perfectly with the interpretation of Larionov’s “The Spider’s Web”. The scalloped borders of the web are in white gold, set with brilliant-cut diamonds, providing the perfect setting for the mounted spider with its high jewellery diamond body.
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The impressive white gold spider on top of Buccellati’s new honeycomb technique ring, with its diamond body and legs, was inspired by Larionov’s unique avant-garde painting.
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Flowers have always inspired Buccellati, and those shown in Bonnard’s “Two Vases of Flowers” were the basis for its new flower pendant necklace.
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Buccellati chose the opening of its five-storey flagship store on Madison Avenue NYC to unveil its new art-inspired, one-of-a-kind Timeless Blue fine jewellery collection.
