Family jewels

Growing up in Vincenza, Italy’s City of Gold, in a world of glittering gems and over-the-top luxury, Franco Pianegonda knew something was wrong. All around him, he saw jewelry that was detached from people — something high and unreachable, something that would take lifetimes and fortunes to acquire, something that was intentionally made distant simply to heighten desire for it. He saw that world — and hated it.

So Franco set out to change a few things. With a talent for design that was as natural as breathing, and a vision of a new kind of luxury, he established his own house of fine jewelry. His mission: to design and produce innovative, top-quality jewelry that was no longer detached and unreachable, but deeply personal and full of passion. Franco set out to create bold pieces that fused individual self-expression with the good taste and elegance that defines Italian design the world over. If any long-standing rules about jewelry or luxury were broken along the way, so be it. His sister, Maria Luisa, signed on for the challenge, and the house of Pianegonda was born in Vincenza, Italy in 1994.

Today, Pianegonda’s bold, innovative pieces are in over 25 boutiques across Italy and in the world’s fashion capitals, and worn by the likes of Usher, Gwen Stefani, Fergie and the Pussycat Dolls, to name a few. The house that Franco built now employs over 150 people, all specialists in their own professions, handling every aspect of operations from design to sales, fueled by the passion and philosophy of their creative figurehead. In 2007 alone, Pianegonda is opening new boutiques in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Moscow, Kiev and Manila. Yes, you read that right — Pianegonda is in town, and it is most definitely ready to rock the boat.

Twenty-first century luxury

Pianegonda opened its doors to Manila’s stylish set at “hot spot du jour” Embassy. The dynamic brother-and-sister team of Franco and Maria Luisa Pianegonda flew in for the launch, which featured select pieces from Pianegonda’s 2007 collection, and a special preview of its 2008 collection. The pieces were specially chosen by Maria Luisa, who is responsible for marketing and communications for the house of Pianegonda worldwide. It is Maria Luisa herself who introduces the pieces to YStyle, taking special care to note that all the jewels used by the house are all natural, certified no-conflict stones.

Franco Pianegonda’s vision of “twenty-first century luxury” manifests itself in jewelry with clean, bold lines and rounded shapes. Maria Luisa is quick to show pieces from 2007’s Glitter line for women, which combine the most precious stones — pave diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds — with satined, rhodium-plated silver.

“Contamination,” Maria Luisa calls this unexpected combination of the precious and the pedestrian. “Mixing diamonds and silver, it’s like two different worlds meeting,” she explains. “In a home, this would be something like a Minotti couch alongside a table you got from your grandmother. Or in dressing, it would be like combining a no-name, no-brand top with something designer and very, very expensive. No matter what you put together, the outcome is something that is only you.”

This seems to be a cornerstone of the Pianegonda philosophy: putting elements together towards one’s own self-expression. “It’s not the individual elements that are important, but how you choose them and put them together,” adds Maria Luisa. “What is important is to be free to choose for yourself. It takes a certain character and personality to do that.”

It does, indeed. Pianegonda’s bold fusions of gold and diamonds, of silver and outsized natural stones such as amethysts, citrines, quartz and topaz are not for the faint of heart or the glam wannabe. “Sometimes you see beautiful women who have no personality. Or women who wear jewelry just to show that they have money,” Maria Luisa muses. “Women who wear our jewelry have character and personality, because our jewels are made of character and personality. And the men, too — they are men of character. Just like Franco,” she says almost fondly, gesturing to her visionary brother.

Yes, Pianegonda also creates jewelry for men. “Older men are not so comfortable wearing jewelry, especially like this,” admits Maria Luisa wryly. One look at the men’s collection and you’ll see why: the chunky rings and silver ID bracelets sport white and black diamonds, quartz and onyx, with miniature crosses and tiny studs. Forget your swinger uncle’s golden chain necklaces; this is bling for the young, adventurous, and seriously hip male.

Double sides of life and love

Maria Luisa takes special care to introduce the symbol of the Pianegonda house: the Lovesick Heart. A recurring presence in Pianegonda’s creations, from miniscule earring locks to stamped on bold enamel charms, this isn’t the type of you’ll find dangling on a dainty, too-precious-for-words Valentine’s Day bauble.

The familiar curves of the Lovesick Heart taper to an ominously elongated, dagger-sharp point, hinting of love far beyond teddy bears and late-night text messages. This is for people who’ve intimately tangled with the other side of love — the side that hurts like nothing you can name — and have lived to tell the tale. (It’s not called “lovesick” for nothing.) “The double side of life — and love,” explains Maria Luisa. Yet, despite the uncharacteristic narrowness of the heart, “there is space inside — space to dream, space for passion, and space to keep fighting for what you love,” she adds.

You almost wonder how something that looks so fabulously hip could be so utterly profound, and how it could possibly transport you back to the last time you stayed up all night sobbing and feeling piteously small. Then you see something — that maybe, just maybe, it’s not about being hip. Maybe that’s not it at all. And maybe you’re now ready to meet the man who saw that first, and who forged these creations of stone and metal to make you see it, too.

YStyle sits down for 15 minutes with Franco Pianegonda, and gets into the head of this trailblazing Italian jewelry designer.

YSTYLE: What’s foremost in your mind when you create a new piece, or a new collection?

FRANCO PIANEGONDA: Most important is happiness, emotion. Next, maybe, is the target person for whom you are creating. Always the last to come is the material you use.

Paint us a picture of the kind of woman you create for.

There is no one woman, but many women. Her race, religion, prominence, looks and age — all of those are not important. What is important is that this woman knows herself and is sure of herself. Logically, though, she would be about 35 to 40 years old.

What does your jewelry add to the man or woman who puts it on?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Nothing?

My jewelry doesn’t add anything to a person. Rather, it speaks of the kind of person who wears it. It speaks of their character, personality and taste. If there was something I’d want my jewelry to add to someone, it would be happiness.

Your sister Maria Luisa told me about your concept of “contamination” — mixing influences and materials that normally wouldn’t go together.

What it is for me, is that when I travel, I absorb a lot of what is around me. Simply put, my experiences go into my creation. It enables me to have a wider, a more global outlook.

It also means you put precious stones like diamonds together with, say, poorer-quality metals like silver.

There’s no such thing as a poor metal. For me, all materials, all metals, as long as they are natural, they are noble.

What inspired your 2007 collection?

It’s very ‘80s-inspired, very colorful. I also used a lot of enamel in red, black and white. There are also more rounded shapes here.

What are some of your favorite pieces from this collection?

That is a very difficult question. They are like my children. I couldn’t pick a favorite. What’s most important to me, though, are the pieces with the Lovesick Heart. There’s so much meaning in that heart — it’s the symbol of my house and it stands for all the values of my house. Honesty, passion, nobility. All of these are spiritual values.

Of all the things you could design, why jewelry?

(Points upward) God decides. We’re not the ones who decide. Why did you decide to become a writer, anyway? (Laughs.) It came very naturally to me. I suppose growing up in Vincenza had something to do with it — it’s known in Italy as the city of gold. But it was a lot of things that came together. Or maybe it was already written somewhere.

Growing up in a city like Vincenza, how did that shape your view of jewelry?

Jewelry was very detached from people, and marketing makes it that way to heighten desire for it. That was something I hated. Why? What for? That was the old way. Now, you have to really be with people, mingle and mix, and just give, give, give.

There’s a view about luxury in there, too.

Yes. High, unreachable, something distant that you have to achieve — that was the old concept of luxury. But I don’t believe that. Luxury is not something you have in your wallet or in your pocket. It’s something you have in your head. There are many people who have lots of money, but only a few who really have luxury. Luxury isn’t about money, it’s about freedom, and really knowing yourself enough to choose freely.

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Pianegonda is available at Rustan’s.