Installation view "Brilliant! The Futures of Italian Jewellery". Photo by Giulia Napoli

On the occasion of the XXI International Exposition, Triennale di Milano presents the exhibition Brilliant! The Futures of Italian Jewellery.

The selected jewels are emblematic of the future scenarios awaiting Italian jewellery, which are: Admirable Manufacturing, Everyday Beauty, Avant Craft, Precious Technologies and Collective Creativity. The queen of all is the necklace, the most representative jewel of Italian goldsmithing.

Damiani. Photo by Giulia Napoli

The exhibition aims to illustrate both the manufacturing mission and the technological innovation involved in contemporary Italian jewellery and the way it interacts with other sectors. What emerges is a variety of styles, experiments and research, from high jewellery to the latest wearable interactive technologies. Works of Antonini, Giampaolo Babetto, Giampiero Bodino, Buccellati, Bulgari, Margherita Burgener, Fabio Cammarata, Monica Castiglioni per Bijouet, Chantecler, Roberto Coin, Crivelli, Riccardo Dalisi, Damiani, De Simone, Sandra di Giacinto, Gianfranco Ferré, Forevermark Italia, Emma Francesconi, Roberto Giannotti, Stefan Hafner, Alba Polenghi Lisca, Liverino 1894, Stefania Lucchetta, Giulio Iacchetti per Maison 203, Manuganda, Stefano Marchetti, Marco Bicego, Marni, Mattia Cielo, Mattia Mazza, Mattioli, Mimi, Misis, Giancarlo Montebello, Moschino, Barbara Paganin, Pasquale Bruni, Francesco Pavan, Percossi Papi, Gaetano Pesce, Franco Pianegonda, Pomellato, Carla Riccoboni, Sanlorenzo, Santagostino, Sharra Pagano, Vendorafa, Vhernier, Francesca Villa, Vinaya, Giorgio Visconti, Graziano Visintin.

Bulgari. Photo by Giulia Napoli

Curator Alba Cappellieri, director of the Museo del Gioiello in Vicenza, sees the future of Italian jewellery five-fold: Admirable Manufacture, Everyday Beauty, Avant Craft, Precious Technologies and Collective Creativity. The 50 contemporary necklaces on display at La Triennale di Milano, as part of the Brilliant! The Future of Italian Jewellery exhibition, have been chosen to represent the themes of traditional ways of working precious materials, everyday luxury and artistic exploration, and the potential of rapid prototyping and 3D printing. 

Buccellati. Photo by Giulia Napoli

Precious materials range from fabulous coloured gemstones and diamonds, courtesy of Giampiero Bodino and Bulgari, to Pomellato’s tailored jet and rose gold chain links. The Pastries necklace by Moschino and the undulating creations by Gaetano Pesce express the whimsy of resin. Francesca Villa and Sandra Di Giacinto explore the possibilities of paper in necklaces of rose gold, sapphires and bingo numbers, while Mattia Cielo’s industrial chain of carbon, diamonds and gold, and Margherita Burgener’s naturalistic titanium, gold and silk flowers, demonstrate contrasting approaches to new materials. 

Santagostino. Photo by Giulia Napoli

A jewellery exhibition in a design and manufacturing context such as La Triennale di Milano is a vital opportunity for cross-fertilisation. Visitors as disparate as lovers of classic bling and industrial designers can study objects that might otherwise be inaccessible or off the radar in exclusive boutiques. The Brilliant! exhibition reminds us that beauty, imagination, innovation and craftsmanship thrive at all levels.