The jewel becomes art. 70 masterpieces of Italian design on display in Como. – Carlo Franza’s blog

Open to Comoin the new gallery Diaz14 Located in the street of the same name, an exhibition that celebrates jewel as a contemporary art form. Open until 30 September 2025embraces seventy creations signed by great masters of Italian and international design tell a new way of thinking about ornament: no longer simple accessory, but an expression of an aesthetic and cultural vision. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 to 13, from 15 to 19.

Promoted by Gioel Milanyoung reality that continues the design inheritance of the historic silverware San Lorenzo, the exhibition – illuminated by the architect of the lights Francesco Murano – brings together the most authoritative names of the design panorama for a total of about 70 pieces: Naoko Shintani, Lella Vignelli, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Giovanna Talocci, Maria Blaisse, Lella and Massimo Vignelli, Antonio Piva, San Lorenzo, Flavia Alves de Souza, Benedetta Tagliabue Miralles, Franco Albini and Franca Helg, Patricia Urquiola, Matali Crasset.

Necklaces, rings, bracelets and medallions become design microcosms: small metal products that contain research, intuition, style. Each piece was born from a creative process that blends rigor and experimentation, gesture and thought, planning and crafts.

Among the jewels on display, two emblematic examples:

• The spheres of Afra and Tobia Scarpa, born in 1990 as a gift for the twentieth anniversary of San Lorenzo, consisting of 19 silver spheres inserted on multicolored silk cords, conceptual reinterpretation of the classic pearl wire;
• The end of the end of Lella and Massimo Vignelli, a fluid, transformable, modular jewel, born from a freehand sketch and made without a technical design, thanks to the goldsmith’s wisdom of the craftsmen.

The exhibition testifies to the revolutionary vision of San Lorenzo, founded in 1970 with the aim of bringing the language of design to the world of silver, traditionally linked to classicism. Today, with Gioel Milano, this approach is renewed, keeping the dialogue between matter and project intact.

The presence of the collection is particularly significant Pan999conceived by Tobia Scarpa in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Milan: pots and glasses made in pure silver inside and iron outside, which enhance the natural properties of silver – bactericidal, hygienic, thermal conductor – combining functionality and aesthetic refinement.

Carlo Franza