Since Pomellato launched its first high jewellery collection in 2020, the Milanese jewellery has offered women a new way to wear one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces, combining them with other pieces in their collection and sharing their high jewellery pieces with the world y wearing them every day, rather than locking them away.
Pomellato Creative Director Vincenzo Castaldo
Breaking the rules has always been Pomellato’s approach, a jeweller who encourages women to be themselves, expressing their personality through the jewellery pieces they choose and the way they choose to wear them.
The brand recently unveiled its third La Gioia high jewellery collection “A Walk in Nature, from Sunrise to Darkness.” Inspired by nature the new collection portrays an imaginary landscape capturing the beauty of light and the ways it changes the perception of nature from day through to night.
Designed by Creative Director Vincenzo Castaldo, the collection consists of 33 pieces that capture the light, moods and sensations of nature in seven different chapters, combining the craftsmanship of the jeweller with the brand’s free-spirited style. We find out more about the sources of inspiration for this collection and the importance of craftsmanship at the brand.
PRINCESS THE RAPPER MENTA NECKLACE in rose gold with Paraiba tourmaline and diamonds
Congratulations on the new La Gioia high jewellery collection – tell us about the story behind this collection and the journey that it takes you on?
This collection was designed to celebrate the beauty, richness and diversity of nature and reinforce the closeness that we have always had with this dimension. Nature has always been a huge source of inspiration for Pomellato and we want to make this connection even closer. We also wanted to explore new territories, in order to evolve our creative universe.
The story of this collection is around a hypothetical walk in nature. Our creative intention was not to reproduce or imitate what you can see with your eyes in nature, but to go beyond that. We wanted to take interesting shapes and translate them into a precious form, highlighting some of the things that nature can evoke in your imagination. It’s connected to emotion – if you see a sunset for example, or you admire a flower, it’s about what really inspires you from these moments, not just how they look visually.
The collection is composed of seven stories inspired by this walk and focuses on specific moments of the day from sunrise to darkness. Light plays a fundamental role. I think it’s amazing how light can change your perception of something, for example, if you see a flower at sunrise and then see it at sunset, it will appear in a totally different way. Light can bring nature to life, revealing its beauty and colour, whilst darkness can create drama and a sense of mystery, showing nature in black and white. So light is a key element of this collection.
LIGHT BLUE REEF RIVIERE NECKLACE in white gold with aquamarines and diamonds
Is there a piece from the collection that was particularly challenging to create or a piece that holds a special place in your heart?
Surely the piece that opens our walk – a light blue rivière-style necklace from the Secrets of the Rising Sun chapter – is one of the highlights, and the other is the one that closes the walk: the Velvet Tie Chain Necklace. The light blue Reef Rivière because each of the stones is set individually and modelled by hand. We created by hand a kind of gentle rope that follows the irregular shape of the gems. It’s a one-of-a-kind set of stones and so it required a huge effort. The Velvet Tie is a masterpiece of craftsmanship that belonged to the excellence of the Milanese goldsmith tradition.
How important is it to you to preserve traditional craftsmanship techniques at Pomellato and what steps are you taking to do this?
It’s very important to us because we are using traditional Milanese goldsmithing techniques and for me, it is a huge privilege to have an internal atelier with artisans and setters that work every day on the new collection. This allows us to explore and experiment which is very important for Pomellato. It allows us to change and adapt pieces if we see them working better in another way and it also allows us to find different solutions and explore new ways of doing things. So the atelier is a very important element of the brand.
How do you at Pomellato find young craftsmen and women to join the team?
We have a very special one-of-a-kind project. Because Pomellato has an internal atelier as well as its own factory, we have a fully-integrated creative and production process from the first idea to the finishing touch. We know that this art of jewellery making by hand is becoming increasingly rare and it’s difficult to find new talent, so Pomellato decided to sponsor and create an academy within an existing school here in Milan.
It’s an amazing project called the Pomellato Virtuosi Academy and our goldsmiths and some of the workers from the atelier go to the school to teach the young generations all the secrets of making jewellery by hand. They train the next generation of artisans in the industry so it’s an initiative that benefits both Pomellato and these young talents. Currently, we have two young ladies who trained in the academy and they are very talented artisans.
Another important point is to integrate different ways of working, for example using a 3D approach – we have to find the perfect mix between the traditional methods and the new ways. The young generation brings fresh approaches to working and it creates good vibes because they consider things in ways we may not have in the past. So I believe we have a good balance between the traditional approach which is our culture, combined with different opportunities when it comes to technology. The introduction of new talents and young, fresh energy makes a big difference.
I have been with Pomellato since 2001 so my journey with the brand is quite long I’ve seen many changes over the years and I’m proud to say that we do try to integrate new approaches with the traditional ones, combining different aspects to get the best results.
VELVET TIE CHAIN NECKLACE in rose gold with diamonds, jet and red garnets
This is of course the third high jewellery collection now – how do you think this segment of Pomellato is evolving and where would you like to take it moving forward?
We like to think that our clients can have the freedom to combine our creations according to their own personalities and tastes. As you know, one of our key values is freedom, even in the creative process, we want to explore and break the rules so we encourage our customers to find ways to combine our collections and wear them in their own ways. In an ideal world, a woman can wear a creation from La Gioia with a ring from the Nudo collection – we are not rigid in the way that we design or the way that we want women to wear our jewels.
When we started this collection our intention was never to have a traditional high jewellery collection and what we want to be is a very precious interpretation of our Prêt-à-Porter. Our high jewellery has to have a real place in everyday life.
Can you share a little on the choice of stones and materials in this collection?
I would like to underline three different materials from the collection. The first is a one-of-a-kind set featuring a Baroque-shaped aquamarine that was a nice find! It is so unique that we are not about to reproduce this piece because it features a set of baroque-shaped aquamarine stones that total more than 150 carats. Then another one of my favourite stones in this collection is the extraordinary selection of 24 cabochon-cut grey spinel which totals more than 44 carats featuring in the Cascade Earrings. And the is the overcut faceted Paraiba green tourmaline, which is a tourmaline of 18 carats. It’s a beautiful vibrant colour. These stones for me represent the most beautiful materials used in this collection.
BAMBOO GARDEN Y NECKLACE
Over the years the worlds of jewellery and nature have always been closely intertwined – why do you think this is and how does nature enrich your own creative process?
In nature you can find everything – unique colour combinations, shapes, patterns – anything you try to create yourself you will find already exists in nature. But it is also important to try to translate the feelings and emotions that nature can evoke. That is another part of the process.
Another important point is how you observe nature. Obviously, nature is under the eyes of everyone but sometimes it can be extraordinary to take time to observe the details – how a leaf moves in the wind for example, of how a flower petal plays with another and also the proportions, finding things that can be imperfect at first sight and discovering their perfections. Nature never stops teaching us new things.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, what else is in the pipeline for you?
At the end of the year, we have a very nice special project for a beautiful city in Italy – it is a homage to Venice and we will be presenting it to the world soon.
What is a message you would send to your customers in the Middle East around this collection?
From a personal point of view, the relationship between women and jewels has to always be sentimental. The inspirations of this collection are very connected to our emotional side, so my advice is to follow your heart when you buy jewels. You have to fall in love with the colour of the stone or the design. For me, the relationship between us and jewellery is really connected to emotion and it is not the same relationship you have with your bag or your shoes. There is a sentimental connection around it.
