The book describes two hundred Italian fashion jewels representing the aesthetic mirror of the society, from Dolce Vita in the 1950s to the Prêt-à-Porter of the 1980s, from Minimalism in the 1990s to the Fashion Tech of the new millennium. Jewels that show the transformation of styles and customs, women’s ambitions and their achievements, the evolution of shapes, materials and new production techniques.
It is the tale of a typically Italian story for the ability to match creativity and manufacturing, craftsmanship and industry, art and technology, beauty and innovation.

Alba Cappellieri is Full Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, where she is the Director of the International Master in Jewellery & Fashion Accessories Design. She is the Director of the Vicenza Museum of Jewellery and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris, of the Gijs Bakker Foundation in Amsterdam and of the Fondazione Cologni in Milan.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

THE ITALIAN EXCELLENCE
Creativity, craftmanship and innovation

JEWELLERY OR BIJOU?
Fashion jewellery

ON PRECIOUSNESS
Material or conceptual?

FROM ANCIENT WORLD TO MODERN AGE
The origins of the Italian fashion jewellery

FROM THE DOLCE VITA TO THE PRÊT-À-PORTER
Italian fashion jewellery conquers the world

FROM ART DESIGN TO FASHION TECH
New jewellery for a new millennium

ENTRIES OF THE WORKS

Bijoutiers

Fashion Designers

Designer

BIBLIOGRAPHY