The jewellery series ‘Archive 1902’ is created from the rearrangement of elements of the Pampaloni archive, by the Florentine silversmiths with a heritage of 112 years. From the encounter between jewellery designer Francesca Caltabiano, the architect and designer Claudia Bellini and Gianfranco Pampaloni, now head of the company, together with his brother Francesco, who is the archive’s passionate bookkeeper, comes the idea of reconstructing archival elements, intended for another use, into wearable objects. “Thousands of models”, explains Gianfranco, “have remained in storage for decades.
Once anagrams of words, parts of candlesticks, coffee pots, sauceboats and candlewicks, they have now been master crafted into a jewellery line consisting of 21 necklaces, 10 female rings, 13 earrings and 5 bracelets. “The process that led to the creation of these jewels”, concludes Gianfranco, “involved a lot of participation and also saw the contribution of the historic craftsmen of the company”. The result reveals an unexpectedly dignified elegance, attenuated by the originality of the components. It’s hard to imagine that using cup handles locks, sugar bowl handles… one can create necklaces that are no less desired than those made by the major jewellery brands, and that even have an extra quality: a touch of surrealism that plays down the figurativeness of the composition.