Milan, like most big cities, does not have a uniform identity. One side is austere, refined, rationalist, while the other is flamboyant, dynamic, and, above all, colorful.
Vincenzo Castaldo, creative director of Pomellato, the Milan-based fine jeweler, leaned into the city’s opposing personalities for the Dualism of Milan, the brand’s 2024 high jewelry collection. He tells the story of the fashion and design capital in Italy’s Lombardy region through a daring mix of colored stones—even, or especially, when capturing its quiet side.
“In combining these two apparently opposite faces of Milan—one concrete, the other intangible, each with its own character—this high jewelry collection gives us a true, in-depth, multidimensional view of the city,” Castaldo said in a statement.
In the first chapter, known as “Milan’s Monochromatic Treasures,” 23 refined and discreet pieces of high jewelry—such as a rose gold collar strung with 11 cabochon moonstones totaling more than 210 carats (above)—prove that subtlety can nevertheless translate to standout design.
Another necklace, called Cielo Stellato (above)—a rose gold chain designed to encircle the neck, culminating in a star-shaped cluster of gray sapphires and spinels—lends the classic link style an unexpected bit of dynamism.
Two of the chapter’s most captivating pieces are the Galleria necklace of rose gold links—which pays tribute to Milan’s majestic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II at night with an octagonal arrangement of gray spinels intended to evoke the building’s famed glass dome—and Il Salotto di Milano necklace, another rose gold chain that descends into a gourmette smothered in gray sapphires, capped by a pendant centered on a 20.72 ct. green tourmaline.
The stone is a good segue to the collection’s second chapter, dubbed “Milanese Color Prism.” These jewels evoke the city’s wilder side, including the exuberant creations of architect and industrial designer Gio Ponti and the Memphis Design movement, a style associated with a group of Italian architects and designers who dominated the 1980s with their Pop Art-inspired sensibilities.
“Here, gems take center stage in an interplay of hue and light,” according to a brand statement. “Fuchsia spinels, electric blue tanzanites, lush green tourmalines—in this second part of the collection, Pomellato selects the most vivid and rare gems of nature to create pieces that radiate pure chromatic joy. Irregular, organic cuts and unexpected combinations reflect the artful irreverence of Milanese design.”
As in the “Monochromatic” chapter, dramatic necklaces, especially chain link collars designed to sit high and close to the neck, are a staple. The most extravagant piece may well be the Spinelli di Fuoco necklace (above), combining 365 carats of red, pink, purple, violet, gray, orange, amber, and scarlet spinel cabochons in a fiery arrangement emanating out from a rose gold chain set with diamonds.
A rainbow theme prevails, too, in the Barocco necklace, with baroque-cut examples of aquamarine, rubellite, tsavorite, tanzanite, mandarin garnet, green tourmaline, and blue zircon, and a 34 ct. paraiba tourmaline drop at the center. And it also does in the Gemme Superlative collar of oval gemstones—including tanzanite, orange garnet, aquamarine, red and pink spinels, peridot, yellow tourmalines, indicolite, rubellite, and morganite—each 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 that amplify the luminous beauty of each gem,” according to Pomellato.
Color us impressed!
Top: Gemme Superlative necklace in 18k rose gold with a mix of colored stones
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