FACE TO FACE WITH BARBARA POLLI, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF FARNESE GIOIELLI
Barbara tell us why you decided to start Farnese Gioielli. Where does your love for jewellery and the need to have your own brand come from?
The love for jewellery is in my DNA, since I was a child, I have always had a passion for family jewelry. Then, as I grew up, I developed a critical vision towards jewelry, which allowed me to always pay great attention to the quality of design and manufacture. So as soon as I was able to focus on an idea that had been swirling around in my head for some time, I felt the need to create my own brand ‘Farnese Gioielli’, realising that this was a real novelty in high jewelry. The characteristic and uniqueness of the brand is in fact that it has transformed high jewelry from static to dynamic, in a perfect combination of luxury and innovation.
The uniqueness and craftsmanship of your brand also comes through a patent. Can you explain what it is and how the spine that makes your jewelry so iconic came about?
The SPINE is technically a back of precious stones that is worn on the basic object, be it ring, earrings, or bracelet. It is interchangeable and has no size. It is extremely easy to change the SPINE on the product and thus change the color of the stones, always ending up with a chromatically different object. It seemed right to protect this innovative idea with a patent registered in most countries of the world. Interchangeability is in fact the essence of the Farnese Gioielli collections and allows us to give voice to the interiority of the wearer of our jewelry. My creations are born from the need to be able to wear a different jewel according to the moments of a day.
Last April, the Habibi collection was enriched, for the first time, by a bracelet with special features. Would you like to tell us about it?
The Habibi Collection was born out of the brand’s research and development, and is characterized by the elastic SPINE, and no longer semi-rigid as in the Mondo Collection. I thought of adding the bracelet to the Habibi line because it is a very discreet object, and the clasp system gives it an intimate meaning. In this piece of jewelry, in fact, the SPINE that wraps around the bracelet functions as a clasp, and so I imagined an embrace between lovers in which one holds the other, which is extremely romantic. This fits perfectly with the name of the Habibi line, which means ‘beloved’ in Arabic.
After the men’s rings from the Habibi collection, in recent weeks we have seen very unusual cufflinks by Farnese Gioielli in advertisements. Tell us what inspired such an atypical and complicated shape to be made.
The TRINUS cufflinks we made come after in-depth research and product development and represent the first non-interchangeable jewel from the Maison. Having a unique triangular shape, diamonds cut especially for this model were used. The TRINUS cufflinks are meant to be a challenge and represent a precious jewel that focuses on geometry, design and skillful craftsmanship, with a shape that intrinsically has multiple meanings.
If you had to choose one piece of jewellery of yours for me, what would it be?
I would choose a pair of earrings that would enhance your face.
One last question: what does Made in Italy mean to you?
Made in Italy is the combination of culture and history with design, craftsmanship and the use of fine materials that sets the standard for luxury in the world.
