COUTURE 2015: Getting To Know Mattioli Jewellery

During the course of the Couture exhibition in Las Vegas I made many discoveries, which I intend to extend to all of you. Today I am going to tell you about the captivating, avant-garde designs of an Italian jewellery brand Mattioli.

As a brand, Mattioli rose to prominence under their current name with Licia Mattioli at the helm relatively recently in 2000. However, they are at the same time a continuation of the brand “Antica Ditta Marchisio”, who have specialised in creating haute couture jewellery by hand since 1860 and are one of the oldest design labels in Turin, Italy. Back in 1995 the company was bought by Licia’s father, Luciano Mattioli, who asked his daughter to assist him in its management. She agreed, and so began a new chapter in the history of both Mattioli and “Antica Ditta Marchisio”.

The brand’s new collections quickly achieved unexpected and unprecedented success, thanks primarily to Licia’s enthusiasm and creative ability. She interprets contemporary luxury design in her own unique way, combining both classic and modern elements in her work, but always remembering to keep it inventive and throw in a touch of humour. There is no mistaking the fact that gold is the key theme of Licia Mattioli’s jewellery, but in her efforts to ensure that her designs live, breathe, move, surprise and entice, the designer has pushed the boat out by experimenting not just with her ideas but with their execution. She regularly uses materials like mother-of-pearl, enamel, black wood or semi-precious stones to give her jewellery a refined, exotic feel.

One of the most well-known of Mattioli’s collections is their range of jewellery-transformers. They followed this with a series of delightfully simple designs featuring gold chains created using the traditional techniques of Turin craftsmen which have been preserved to the present day. The brand’s latest collection, presented at Basel and then at Couture, has gone in a new direction altogether. It combines concepts which are utterly original, such as a series of Arcimboldo portrait rings  made up of an array of miniature gemstones; playful, such as the Lips (see the top banner), which feature – you guessed it – lips; fashionable, like the two-finger Bagheera rings; and trendy, as with Urban Animals, jewellery featuring a variety of wild beasts.