Visit the Newly Opened Buccellati Boutique

VISIT THE NEWLY OPENED BUCCELLATI BOUTIQUE

The Italian jeweler brings its intricate and ornate collections to South Coast Plaza

January 31, 2022

Buccellati, one of the world’s most prestigious Italian jewelers, has opened at South Coast Plaza. Designed with clean lines to showcase the opulent collections for which the Milanese luxury brand is known, the Orange County exclusive boutique is home to fine jewelry, precious watches, silver centerpieces, décor, objets d’art, flatware and tableware.

As a young apprentice in the early 1900s at Beltrami & Besnati, a jeweler and goldsmith, Mario Buccellati was drawn to antique techniques dating back to the Renaissance – his favorite period, the Middle Ages and ancient Greece. Using engraving and chiseling techniques, he parlayed his ideas into jewelry that evoked the sumptuous fabrics and delicate damasks of the Renaissance and Venetian laces. He opened his first namesake boutique in Milan in 1919.

More than a century later, Buccellati jewelry has become synonymous with lavish and luxurious designs and the ultimate in craftsmanship. The founder’s artistic and artisanal legacy shines at the South Coast Plaza boutique, realized through the devoted stewardship and creativity of the Buccellati family through the decades, including his sons Luca and Gianmaria; grandson Andrea, President and Creative Director of the Buccellati Group; and great-granddaughter Lucrezia, Co-Creative Director.

CREATING THE BUCCELLATI HONEYCOMB EFFECT

Five themes pervade the jewelry collections, all a testament to the artisanship of the Buccellati house: silk, a nod to the striated surface that resembles silk shantung; nature, designs inspired by flora and fauna; plait, which references hand-twisting precious metals; lace, marked by elaborate openwork; and honeycomb, an intricate style that pays tribute to the hexagonal engineering work of bees.

Among the most popular collections that embody these themes are Macri, Ramage, Rombi, Opera and Hawaii.

THE MACRI COLLECTION

The Macri features the “rigato” effect, the result of handmade engraving. Brilliant-cut diamonds set in star-shaped rosettes and tiny gold beads gleam on a striated surface reminiscent of silk shantung.

THE RAMAGE COLLECTION

Inspired by the Renaissance, the Ramage features a silhouette of branches and tiny leaves accented with diamonds, created by boring a 1-mm. gold plate by hand.

THE ROMBI COLLECTION

Also inspired by the Renaissance, white and yellow gold and diamonds in the Rombi are fashioned to resemble lace or arranged to form a scalloped-edge geometric band.

THE OPERA COLLECTION

Resembling a flower, a medallion-like motif epitomizes the Opera, created with gold, diamonds, and in some cases, colorful enamel.

THE HAWAII COLLECTION

The most modern of the popular Buccellati collections, the Hawaii is crafted with hand-twisted white, yellow or rose gold threads to form intertwining circles, a design that dates back to the 1930s and yet looks timeless to this day.

A piece of Buccellati jewelry is a work of art, a notion that no less than the Smithsonian Institution underscored when it held a retrospective titled “Buccellati: Art in Gold, Silver and Gems” in 2000.

The late Gianmari Buccellati understood this profoundly, acknowledging the original inspiration that led his family’s foray into jewelry: “Botticelli, Brunelleschi, Donatello or Benvenuto Cellini left us with works of elevated goldsmithing to admire and emulate. To this heritage…Buccellati simply added its own inspiration and dedication.”