Buccellati celebrates 100 years with a breathtaking book and re-creation of the maison’s storied Ombelicali necklaces.
“The Buccellati story is an Italian story of beauty,” says Alba Cappellieri, who curated the Assouline book Buccellati: A Century of Timeless Beauty, celebrating the 100 years of the house’s history. “More specifically, it is a Milanese story, one that symbolizes the city’s creativity, its craft smanship, its traditions and its adventurous, innovative spirit,” she says. “It is also a story in which family is at the center, poised between love and business.”
The stunning tome honors the heritage of the house founded in 1919 by Mario Buccellati—and the living legacy that thrives as the fourth generation continues to create breathtaking jewelry and silver pieces. With contributions from luminaries like Andrea Buccellati, Vivienne Becker and Franco Cologni, Cappellieri spotlights materials sourced from the Milan maison’s archives tracing the defining moments and special relationships with princesses, actresses and creatives like poet and writer Gabriele d’Annunzio.
From left : Assouline’s Buccellati book; Buccellati Ombelicale necklace composed of yellow gold cups and beads alternating with moonstone and cianite elements.
To coincide with the launch, Buccellati has re-created the “umbilical” necklaces often requested by d’Annunzio, who used to give the necklaces to his lovers as a gift. The elegant and seductively long necklaces in pearl, jade, opal, coral, lapis, rock crystal and moonstone end with a pendant that slightly falls on the belly button, hence the name “Ombelicali.”
Seductive and immensely stylish, we expect the Ombelicali to have a major Renaissance moment, no doubt.
Photography by: PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASSOULINE AND BRAND
