In its Paris sale on 29 October, Sotheby\u2019s will be offering 26 pieces by the Italian jeweler Buccellati. A red-letter day on several counts.<\/p>\n
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Buccellati pieces are rare at auction and in antique stores. The ones here were entrusted to Sotheby\u2019s by Buccellati itself, to celebrate its centenary. Whether or not by chance, the event coincides with Richemont’s announcement on 26 September of its 100% buyout of the company founded in the early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Sotheby\u2019s sale<\/strong><\/p>\n “I wanted a broad selection in terms of price,”<\/em> says Magali Teisseire, director of the jewelry department. The pieces, with estimates between \u20ac1,000 and \u20ac45,000, were created between 1970 and 2010 by Gianmaria Buccellati (who died in\u00a02015) and his son Andrea, the current artistic director. Sadly, there are none from the period of Mario Buccellati, dubbed “the prince of goldsmiths” by D\u2019Annunzio. He was the man who “invented” the company’s trademark style in the early 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century. However, Sotheby\u2019s will be exhibiting twenty-odd pieces by him (lent by the family) in the pre-sale exhibition, including a 1920s tiara, a marvelous bracelet in tulle and a 1950s brooch. \u00a0A way of emphasizing the permanence of the style.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Buccellati style<\/strong><\/p>\n Because these pieces dating from the Seventies to 2010 are all hallmarked with the Buccellati style: the influence of naturalism and the spirit of the Renaissance, the meandering foliage, the rosettes and above all the magnificent lace mimicking the products of Bruges and Valenciennes, where the gold filigree work is all pierced by hand. Mario Buccellati’s heirs also continue to set silver with diamonds and mingle it with yellow and rose gold to accentuate the depth. “Everything is incredibly subtle, worked in the minutest detail,”<\/em> says Magali Teisseire.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n