The jewel mine that is Pianegonda

One of the most fascinating pieces in Pianegonda’s newest Luce collection is a very chunky, globule silver ring liberally dotted with natural stones: amethyst, topaz and quartz. At first glance, it seems as if Franco Pianegonda, the Italian jewelry designer who shifted from engineering to present career because he was “bored” with the jewelry selection on the market, affixed the stones in different angles randomly, putting them where there was space available. But you reconsider the thought as soon as light hits the colorful gems and gives off an illusion of a stone rainbow; for more than a moment, you’ll forget that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. By using “extended volumes, round spaces, abundance of materials and width of shapes,” Pianegonda has made this piece more alive and unconventionally appealing than most of what’s available on the jewelry scene.

But that’s what the brand is all about anyway: unconventional appeal. The Vicenza-born label (Vicenza being the Italian province known for its goldsmiths and long jewelry-making tradition) has attracted the style set through its sizeable dimensions, unorthodox shapes and courageous and innovative use of materials. Says Julien Lepeu, who handles PR and communications for the brand in Hong Kong, “Franco Pianegonda is very much inspired by Picasso and Italian and Spanish contemporary artists. He is very daring and loves using cubic forms. And he was also an engineer before so you can see a little bit of architecture in his pieces.”

It’s hard to be inconspicuous wearing a Pianegonda piece. “It’s not for the meek,” affirms Lepeu. Nor is it for the weak-hearted. If you see the brand signature, an elongated heart, with a razor-sharp tail, you’ll understand why. Explains Lepeu, “The signature heart represents how love can be very lovely and very nice but it can also be very sharp and very cruel.” (In this sense, it seems Pianegonda is saying, be it a good thing or bad, don’t just wear your heart on your sleeve. Wear it around your neck, on your ears, each of your pretty little fingers, or on your wrist.)

The new Veritas collection also speaks of a brand designed for the powerful and assertive jewel-lover. Made especially for the independent, modern woman, Veritas (the Latin word for “that which is real and true”), offers up rounded gold and silver, diamond-studded pieces that allow women to “truly be themselves and express their true feminine strength within the human evolution cycle.” The brand cites Melinda Gates, IT tycoon Bill Gates’ s wife and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a role model for this kind of woman. Says Lepeu, “She convinced her husband to quit his job and work for her and he’s one of the most powerful men in the world. That’s truly a strong woman.”

Pianegonda also puts much emphasis on its chain pieces, very popular as they are. Distributed amongst the different collections, these are impressive, multi-layered designs that, though chunky, still manage to look sleek and sophisticated. The designer, who received the prestigious Young Businessman in Fashion award in 2006 from the Italian National Chamber of Fashion, creates his chains in such a way that each piece gives an impression of texture and movement. Maybe it’s the way he approaches silver, a very important material in the brand’s design principle. “He uses silver like a piece of cloth, just as a fashion designer would. He wants his pieces to look and feel like textile.”

He used the same approach with pearls, a new addition into the extensive Pianegonda vault. “The brand isn’t very conventional at all and pearls are very conventional,” relates Lepeu. “Franco was thinking of a way to use them differently.” So he chose the freshwater pearl, the shape of which is irregular and imperfect, fused it with silver and gold and made geometric multi-layered link necklaces. The result: pearl jewelry that doesn’t look as if it’s been passed down from any great-grandmother.

In its 14-year history, the brand and its avant-garde aesthetics have racked up fans not just in birthplace Italy but also all over the globe. Not a few of them are Tinseltown’s most favored faces. Lepeu showed us a brand book that collates images of celebrities and personalities all blinged up in Pianegonda. The interesting bit: Pianegonda’s appeal is not just directed to a particular age group or gender. Celebs from R&B sensation Rihanna to soul star Enrique Iglesias, from earthy Macy Gray to pop star Fergie, are fans. So are Mr. Metrosexual himself David Beckham, the elegant Ivana Trump and the exotic Bai Ling. All these high-profile figures seem to have found something in Pianegonda to fit their personalities. “These are people with different styles and different backgrounds. The common thing is that they are all very creative, strong people.” As noted earlier, people who don’t like blending into the wallpaper.

Even Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, known for her bold and innovative off-court style, is a Pianegonda customer. “I personally sold her a piece in one of our Hong Kong stores,” recalls Lepeu. “She was there for a tournament. I saw her come in and — she’s amazing, beautiful and strong, like a sculpture. She took one of the huge pieces — only her can wear that.”

Interestingly, rocker Joel Madden, better known as the father of Nicole Richie’s baby, is also in the collage. “Our pieces are pretty rock and roll, especially for men. We have big, chunky pieces that are just really beautiful.”

The varied celebrity cachet is great for eye candy. But it’s really Franco Pianegonda’s pieces that stick to the memory. According to Lepeu, each is so personal and different, you either take it or don’t. Do yourself a favor and take it — for all that it is worth.

Pianegonda is available at Silver Vault, Rustan’s Makati.

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