THE VENETIAN ROOM FOR A TANGO WITH POMELLATO

Featured photo: Pomellato jewellery collections in the Venetian Room at Ely House

© Mallett Antiques / Courtesy of Mallett Antiques

Interview with the jewellery brand Pomellato

Article by Roxana Florina Popa

Roxana-Florina Popa: What kind of clientele does Pomellato expect to attract by its presence in an antique dealer’s house? What is the experience the brand wants to offer compared to jewellery shops?

Pomellato: We think that our brand and Mallett are very close both in terms of how we work and how we see the jewels: very close to design and art. We want to be creative and push the boundaries. So, being in a place like Mallett makes sense for us. We feel this connection with design, furniture, antiques because we take our inspiration from there. For example, the cross that you saw there, is a big Latin cross – Glory Collection, that we reinterpreted in the 80s and the 90s.

In terms of environment, what matters for us is to provide a real luxury experience and the best service we can give to our clients. The boutique is a different way of selling products, but here we really want our clients and potential clients feel in what kind of creative environment we are living. We share the same creative environment with Mallett. As if you are saying “who are the friends of this brand?” and “what is these friends’ environment?”

We are not the biggest players in the UK and there might be clients who never heard or seen Pomellato. We believe that people who come to Mallett and love design can be more attracted towards Pomellato.

Mallett describes all pieces exhibited here as the antiques of the future. In 50, 60, 100 years’ time what would you be collecting and passing down generations because it is well-made? Pieces well-crafted like ours.

I see these pieces every day. This setting allows them to be seen in another light. I think it is good to take pieces away from the usual display and give not only our customers an opportunity to see them, but also introduce them to a new audience which Mallett attracts.

You have jewellery enthusiasts and antiques enthusiasts and they do not always cross-over. Now, we have a chance to introduce ourselves to this new audience presenting features that they would appreciate like good craftsmanship, attention to detail, pieces that last.

RFP: What distinguishes Pomellato from other brands in terms of inspiration, craftsmanship, gems?

Pomellato: Pomellato was born in 1967 at the same time with the revolution in fashion from haute-couture to ready-to-wear. The background was about women gaining their independence, including financially. The founder, Mr Rabolini, coming from a family of goldsmiths, was very interested in applying these change principles to jewellery. His idea was to transform jewellery worn and kept in a bank safe into jewellery that women could wear every day, practical and comfortable jewellery.  Starting from women being able to afford themselves to buy jewellery instead of having a husband, he created the first collection.

These beautiful 18K gold arabesques, in the Arabesque Collection, are a beautiful homage to our beginnings with beautiful volumes, textures and really exceptional craftsmanship. Exquisite craftsmanship which is very creative and pushes the boundaries of the traditional jewellery characterizes Pomellato.

Arabesque Collection

© Mallett Antiques / Courtesy of Mallett Antiques

Pomellato is recognized for using coloured gem stones at a time when nobody was paying attention to them. Tourmaline is now are exceptionally expensive, but not back in the 70s – 80s. Our archives form this time shows the use and identification of Pomellato with massive tourmaline, amethyst, topaz and citrine.

Compared with a solitaire that you wear alone, here you can wear three solitaires, if you like. You get an elegant and functional combination with clean lines. The pieces incoporate traditional techniques or ideas, but they are always given a twist that makes them very modern and contemporary. The Nudo collection has a beautiful palette of colours that you can mix and match to create your unique combination. This piece, launched in 2001, was a bit of an ironic take on the solitaire. The setting of the solitaire in the middle is traditional, but here comes Pomellato’s playfulness: it is a ring that women could buy for themselves and could afford; they did not have to wait for a man to propose. It is a ring that you could combine with others.

An interesting feature is the unusual stone cut. We cut our stones in-house. This type of cut you will not find anywhere else. Nudo rings present a combination of facets with smooth edges. The settings are very unique. The stone is like an iceberg.

Pomellato jewellery at Mallett Antiques

© Mallett Antiques /Courtesy of Mallett Antiques

The unseen part is incased in gold. New York Times has described the collection as the blue jeans of jewellery. Something that you can wear casual or you can dress-up and be comfortable, as well.

A very special cut is the facetted, irregular cut and the setting in the Bahia Collection. This setting is on different planes and gives a beautiful play of light on the gem. It is has fire and scintillation.

The Bahia Collection was presented at Mallett Antiques in the Mnemos Box by the architects at Asymptote in New York and part of the Meta Collection

© Mallett Antiques /Courtesy of Mallett Antiques

An example of taking old techniques into modern pieces is our Tango Collection. It is one of our most loved collections. It is very glamorous, rock & roll and very dramatic. This piece is in 18K rose gold, and burnished silver setting for diamonds. The silver gives the possibility to create texture in volume and the burnished part allows the diamonds to stand out. The rose cut is the manner in which diamonds are traditionally cut. The end result is a piece looking vintage, modern and contemporary. It is very wearable despite the amount of diamonds. This collection has been evolving since 2007 and incorporates the newest versions in precious coloured stones.

The collection has all the colours of the rainbow; emeralds; colour change garnet, changing colour depending on the type of light; aquamarine; diamantoi garnets, which were traditionally mined in Russia, have an exceptional brilliance and fire and are very rare stones which are not widely used in jewellery; spinels; lavender sapphires. Pomellato made these stones popular.

Design House here at Mallett Antiques is particularly cherishing modern design which respects the craft. Pomellato represents this and this is why we were invited to exhibit here.

RFP: How is the POM POM woman? And how is the TANGO woman? Which were the most glamouros occasions you noticed women wearing Pomellato high-end jewellery?

Pomellato: With POM POM, it is a bit of a Cinderella story. Each ring is created around an exceptional stone. Once we find this exceptional stone thanks to its rarity, colour and size, we create a ring around it. There is one stone, one ring and one size. So, if the ring fits you, it is fantastic, if not, it cannot be reproduced and this brings an element of luck. They are extremely glamourous pieces that are not for every day. You need to have the kind of life-style that allows you to wear these pieces and enjoy them. Jewellery collectors can be one target since POM POM are exceptional pieces.

A TANGO woman is a rebel who likes practicality and she likes things that would look fabulous on a T-shirt or jeans or on a very sexy dress. You can mix several of these bracelets, to create a beautiful necklace. This is a necklace and a bracelet. If you feel like having a longer necklace, you can attach them.

We have seen Pomellato jewellery worn by our brand ambassador, Salma Hayek, at the Cannes Film Festival, at Oscars, at balls, but the best acknowledgement for us is when women wear them every day for private occasions. We have actresses and celebrities and women who wear these pieces every day. What more glamorous can be when you have your own piece and wear it at your leisure…

…so you make your own glamour…

…indeed, it is about you deciding what is glamorous; this is really a Pomellato woman which decides what is precious for her, who has the confidence and independence of her own style.

RFP: What do POM POM and TANGO collections bring to the consciousness and the heart of a woman wearing it? Which sides of her personality are enhanced?

Pomellato: Jewellery more than clothing, comes really from the heart. There is a sentimental attachment to jewellery, something very personal that you are in touch with. It is about precious tokens of special moments. Any accessory that you wear every day says a lot about you, whether you want it or not. Accessories are the first things people look at. You are projecting an image. So, jewellery is a sign of what you want to project and show: what you want to say about yourself in a very subtle way.

RFP: How is the man who buys Pomellato high-end jewellery?

Pomellato: Pomellato´s best clients are women. There are a lot of men whom we love and welcome because women like to get presents like everyone does. Men love Pomellato because of the aesthetics. They find the unique design something very desirable. They say they can understand it. They like the way it feels and looks. They also know it is something that their wives will like and appreciate. Once you get a Nudo ring, you will like to have another Nudo ring with a different colour, maybe with a different size of the stone. Men know that a further Pomellato piece is something that will complement something that she already has. Because it is practical and she will wear it every day.

Pomellato at Mallett Antiques – Victoria Collection

© Mallett Antiques / Courtesy of Mallett Antiques

RFP: What determined Pomellato to make the move to high-end jewellery in 2007?

Pomellato: I would not say we moved into high-end jewellery, rather we added it. The reason was we felt we could do more. We wanted to have this laboratory, because since 2007 and today, this has not expanded in terms of volume. We do not do more high jewellery today. There are 20-25 pieces. The idea is to really have this laboratory, which enables our creative director to express himself and to use all experiments to be used. It was not felt like an objective or strategy.

We started with the desire to dress women for every day with practicality, however, with a desire to make them look beautiful. It was the 40s anniversary and we realised over this period we developed incredible techniques, came up with creative settings and designs, we are using stones very well and we wanted to continue. It was a natural development to a higher step, but no purposeful intention to go into high-end. When we became 40, we asked ourselves: what if we apply all of the things that we learned through this time and apply all this without any restraints? What came out of this was the POM POM Collection. This is how we progressed from RTW to haute-couture jewellery.

RFP: Who are the stars who are the closest to the Pomellato House as regards passion and loyalty for the brand?

Pomellato: Salma Hayek is the woman wearing the jewellery, not the jewellery wearing her.

We have Sophia Coppola, the film director, also very independent; really thriving in what it is traditionally a male world.

Gwyneth Paltrow is another Pomellato fan and these are the women who have in a way or another broken the norm and create their own trends.

RFP: Many luxury houses like to incorporate their heritage in their creations. What about Pomellato, a young brand?

Pomellato: It is a mix of both heritage and new creativity. We are very proud of our archives because our creativity was so rich and lead to a large offering. We see it sometimes when we travel to Italy and discover some earlier pieces. Even if some pieces from 30 years ago do not match anymore todays’ inspiration, we work a lot with our archives and cherish them a lot.

We have a very rich history despite our young age and we are forward thinking. It is twofold: our history and roots are very important to us to maintain our identity. We preserved our line. We are still creating and looking at new ways of setting, using different stones and materials.

It is this creativity that distinguishes Pomellato.

 Design House at Mallett Antiques, London Design Festival

22 September 2015

Special thanks go to Pomellato, in particular to Mrs Laura du Rusquec, Global Brand Director  and Mrs Fatima Martinez, as well as to Mrs Eleonore Halluitte-Andrews and Mrs Harriette Moore from Mallett Antiques

 

 

This article has been selected into the book “Beauty Elegance Creativity – 12 Interviews on the Act of Creation” published by Roxana Florina Popa