MILAN — Milan’s different facets are a strong source of inspiration for Pomellato, and even more so with the brand’s fifth high jewelry collection to be unveiled on Thursday.
Last year, creative director Vincenzo Castaldo paid tribute to the city, where the jewelry brand was founded in 1967, with the “Ode to Milan” collection, and now he celebrates it with “The Dualism of Milan” lineup of 51 imaginative and one-of-a-kind designs.
In an interview at Pomellato’s headquarters here, Castaldo said his take on the city was now more “in-depth and extensive, even introspective. I have always been impressed by the two different souls of the city, so different yet co-existing in harmony, complementing each other. There are two parallel universes that may not be visible to those that visit Milan only occasionally.”
Castaldo emphasized how the city’s different dimensions span from a “more industrial and urban” side, “austere, discreet, monochrome and gray,” to a a cradle of creativity, fashion, design and art, allowing “freedom of expression, inclusivity and an explosion of joyful colors.”
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In the city, rationalist architecture and skyscrapers flank the work of Gio Ponti or the Memphis Group, he pointed out.
Accordingly, the collection hinges on two themes, “Milan’s Monochromatic Treasures,” and “Milanese Color Prism,” which reflect the dualism of the city.
The former is inspired by the more understated yet refined aesthetic of a more discreet Milan, exemplified by the Planetarium, designed by the late architect Piero Portaluppi, where austere lines are offset by tone-on-tone sculpted stars. Cue the Planetario Notturno necklace, a rose gold disc encrusted with a swirl of diamonds and storm-gray spinels. Eight randomly placed anthracite spinels evoke the sky at dusk.
The “Milanese Color Prism” segment embraces more flamboyant color combinations, as in the Gio Ponti designs, so that Castaldo employed fuchsia spinels, electric blue tanzanites, green tourmalines often in irregular, organic cuts and unexpected combinations. “Color is not a complement but a protagonist here,” he said.
A key goal was to “reinterpret and renew the collection without betraying Pomellato’s high jewelry aesthetic codes,” the designer said. Mission accomplished: Castaldo succeeded in experimenting with new shapes and colors, but the jewels are unmistakably Pomellato. For example, for the first time at Pomellato, he created a fringe necklace, a stunning combination of red, pink, purple, violet, gray, orange, amber and scarlet spinels, arranged around a rose gold chain adorned with a line of white diamonds. The 238 spinel cabochons, totaling 365 carats of stones, are placed in unique settings designed specifically for each gem. “This is an irregular mosaic, they are not laid out symmetrically,” Castaldo said. Complementing this piece are two pairs of earrings, featuring an array of multicolor spinels and white diamonds.
Similarly, the Grande Blu necklace is respectful of Pomellato’s “Catene” tradition, but it is innovative with its five purple-blue tanzanites in a baroque cut in the chain choker, their hue enhanced by a pavé of blue and violet sapphires. “I like the natural beauty of these gems, where it seems there is no intervention of a human hand,” said Castaldo. Flanking this is a ring featuring a 26.86 carat tanzanite surrounded by a pavé of diamonds, blue and violet sapphires, and a pair of chain-link earrings.
A veritable tribute to color is the Gemme Superlative necklace, stones within the stones, as oval tanzanite, orange garnet, aquamarine, red and pink spinels, peridot, yellow tourmalines, indigolite, rubellites and morganite are artfully arranged in a unique composition, each one nestled within its own frame of pavé. Rubies, sapphires, garnets, spinels, tanzanites, zircons, rubellites and Paraiba tourmalines surround the central stones, creating tone-on-tone halos.
A strong identity also characterizes the jewels that are part of the “Monochromatic Treasures.”
The Moonstones collection, for example, is inspired by the mist that often envelops Milan. A rose gold choker features 211.5 carats of moonstones with links adorned in white diamond pavé. Pomellato’s signature prongs embrace each stone for a bold effect. Complementing the choker are two rings, each starring a moonstone cabochon — one at 41.91 carats and the other at 32.79 carats, held by diamond prongs in rose gold.
Castaldo paid tribute to the Palazzo dell’Arengario in Piazza del Duomo, with the Arengario necklace that interweaves rose gold elements: a sleek rose gold chain adorned with white diamond pavé forms the foundation, and intricate rose gold lattices shimmer with a blend of brown and white diamonds.
Evoking the luxury shopping arcade Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and its glass and iron architecture, Castaldo reimagined the Princess necklace into a rose gold chain adorned with pavé diamonds and velvety gray spinels, with a heart of gray spinel gems in an octagonal arrangement that mirrors the Galleria’s famed glass dome.
