In 1981 Gianmaria Buccellati received the title 'Cavaliere della Gran Croce' (Knight of the Big Cross) from the Italian President Pertini for his life's work in developing the craft of the goldsmith/jeweller to an art form. This recognition confirmed the vision of one of Italy's premier goldsmith families in reintroducing the world to all the romance and craftsmanship that had characterised the Renaissance period, and which have given Buccellati its distinctive style.

It has been said of Gianmaria Buccellati that he creates 'paintings' using gold, silver and precious gemstones, such is the beauty of the pieces this second generation master goldsmith fashions. From the moment the concept for a piece enters his mind to the moment it is realised, Gianmaria never strays too far from the centre of creativity; the workrooms that his father Mario had established a generation before.

"My father never really had aspirations for me to be a goldsmith and I actually did much of my apprenticeship without his full knowledge," remembers Gianmaria today. "At night instead of going to the movies or to the bar with friends I went to learn whatever I could from the artisans that worked for my father. I didn't tell my father because we had such different ideas about jewellery that we would only have argued. Where my father didn't see the necessity for me to have an intimate knowledge of all areas involved with this business, I did. For me, simply being sent out to work at the various stores in Rome or Florence or wherever was not enough. 

"I remember one incident especially well. I was sixteen years old and had just completed the first sketch of my very own design when I decided it was time to show it to my father. He was relaxing after work enjoying a cigarette when I put it before him. The design was much more radical than anything he had ever designed and I wondered at his reaction.

He looked at it for a long time then handed it back to me saying, 'What is it?' When I told him it was a ring he smiled and told me that perhaps one day I might see it realised. And he was right many years later I made that very piece".

Today Gianmaria designs all the pieces in the Buccellati range, working from life size sketches and hand picking each of the artisans according to the skill required for that piece. In this way each Buccellati piece is the result of both the artist and the artisan, a formidable combination which highlights the Buccellati creations: 'Each one of my jewels resembles a masterpiece of art or a beauty of nature that everyone might desire. But just one will have it, because each is unique and irreplaceable.'

From the rudimentary idea to the finished product Gianmaria is resolute about his role in ensuring that only finest workmanship be involved in the production of a Buccellati item. The creation of a Buccellati piece requires rigour, technique, precision and a sense of proportion and geometry of form that only a master can readily identify. In this Gianmaria is unique in that he is both artist and artisan. Because of this he can explain in minute detail every facet of his design and then appreciate the work that must go into its realisation. Like his father before him, Gianmaria will use stones for the aesthetic qualities they lend to his design and not because they have some intrinsic monetary value.

"The real challenge is to create something of beauty from whatever it is you have as the raw materials. An artist can create beauty even where it seemingly doesn't exist," reflects Gianmaria about his work, "In this way an artist can bring out the best of whatever he works with. The artisan is the one who can create the most wondrous works from little or nothing at all. In Italy we have been fortunate in having a history of culture and civilisation which has bred the qualities needed to develop the finest artisans. The artisan has always been an integral part of the Italian culture.

So important is the role of the artisan to Gianmaria that he founded, and is now the President of, the Italian Gemological Institute where young artisans are trained alongside their more experienced forerunners. It is a move by which Gianmaria Buccellati hopes to secure the future availability of the craftsmen who devote their talents to the Buccellati name. But not strictly the Buccellati name since Gianmaria is an ardent believer in the cultural significance of the artisan and his influence on all aspects of life, from goldsmithing to jewellery and beyond.

Gianmaria's father, Mario Buccellati was dubbed the 'Prince of Goldsmith's by the celebrated Italian poet and dramatist Gabriele D'Annunzio for the majesty of his work. Born in Milan, Mario Buccellati is credited with giving back to the world the aesthetic wonder of the Renaissance artistry of such luminaries as Andrea del Sarto, Sandro Botticelli and Benevenuto Cellini, who in his time was considered the epitome of the master goldsmith. It would be the inspiration that the young Milanese goldsmith derived from his close study of the Renaissance and eighteenth century French culture, that would set his own work apart from that of his contemparies.

Apprenticed to the most famous of the Milanese goldsmith families of the early 1900's the Beltrami and Besnati clans, Mario Buccellati learned first-hand the value of Renaissance workmanship, studying the works of the masters of the great age until he could use the very tools they had used with greater skill than any of his own teachers. The Beltrami family in particular were renowned for the appreciation of, and involvement in all facets of the arts, from painting to architecture. It was in this environment that the eager apprentice absorbed the love of all things romantic nature and poetry in particular. It would be a devotion that would find expression in the products of his craftsmanship, the same skill that was to send a generation of critics and patrons scurrying for new words to describe the intimate beauty of his work.

Within a few short months of taking over from the Beltrami family in 1919, Mario Buccellati had won the patronage of the Royal Courts of Italy, Belgium, Spain and Egypt. His bejewelled flowers and animals in silver, gold and gemstones became legendary as did his unique use of the tools that Cellini himself would have worked with to fashion his creations back in the 1400's. No other artisan could manipulate these precise and exacting tools with the same flair and vision that Buccellati demonstrated. An invitation to visit and display his work at the Royal Court at Madrid-Palace the Casa Errayz Comp, saw Buccellati's fame skyrocket with further invitations to present his work to the Holy See.

Popes Pius XI and XII were as enthusiastic about Mario Bucellati's work as were Verdi, Puccini and Toscanini who all became frequent visitors to the Buccellati workrooms in Milan. Buccellati became renowned for his ability to reproduce the finest details from nature and life; his keen eye for proportion and balance off-set by the romance of the gemstones he chose to use. Before any other goldsmith Buccellati saw the merit in using such exotic materials as wood, ebony and ivory, his philosophy being to use materials not solely for their intrinsic value but rather for their suitability what he had in mind to produce.

But perhaps Mario Buccellati's single most important contribution to the art of the goldsmith/jeweller was in perfecting the Renaissance feature of 'texture engraving'. A delicate and exquisite patterning of the material, it requires the artisan to manipulate the surface with intricate forms, even the simplest of which - Rigato, where all the engraved lines are cut in the same direction, cannot be achieved in any other way but through the dexterity of the artisan working with centuries-old tools. The more advanced forms, Telato a linen-like texture, Ornato - a lace pattern, Segrinato - a velvet effect, and Modellato - a sculptured engraving displaying a raised surface, required a depth of concentration to tax even the most patient craftsman as he works with the 'bulino', a steel-knife like instrument from the Renaissance period. Although since widely copied these engravings have never been achieved to the same level of expertise as they have at Buccellati. The reason for this lies in the foresight of Mario Buccellati to draw second and third generations of artisans to his workshop so that son learned from the father and the secrets of the Buccellati style remained where they had begun, in the Buccellati workrooms.
In 1952 when Mario Buccellati opened his first store in America, the first Italian jeweller to do so, he gave its direction over to his eldest of his five Luca. Of the rest only Gianmaria took it upon himself to stay closest to the path laid down by his father, the others becoming involved in the administration side of the business, with the youngest son Giorgio opting for a career in archaeology instead. To this day, Gianmaria finds his work compared to that of his father, and in turn looked at in the light of the work of his own son, Andrea. But it is situation that does not phase this most temperate of Italians.

"The fact that of all five sons I was the only one to have gone in to the actual design of the jewellery and flat silverware probably does mean that it is indeed in my blood", Gianmaria explains quietly. "There is a constant in terms of the quality and craftsmanship between the work of my father and my own, as there is between my work and that of my son, and this is part of the Buccellati tradition, part of our signature, if you like. However each of us has had or continues to have an individual signature when it comes down to designing the pieces, and it is this that adds a totally new dimension to everything we do.

The Buccellati style, whilst established and recognisable has many different ways of expressing itself. There will always be that degree of individuality between father and son, and that is nothing new. Just as his father was inspired by the works of the great Renaissance artists and the French Rocaille period (1730-1790), Gianmaria Buccellati finds inspiration in life itself, but particularly in what he calls 'the natural beauty' of women, and works to create pieces which enhance this. Beauty for Gianmaria is not a simple matter of appearance but rather an expression of the class, style and well-balanced way of life that he believes every woman possesses. As his daughter Maria-Christina Head of Public Relations in the family firm, notes, Gianmaria's influence and inspiration often comes from music, the look of a stone or even just the changing pageantry of nature as much as from the women he admires.

Says Maria Christina, "By designing everything ourselves we will always have our own style. It is so particular and personal because someone in the family, either my father or my brother is doing it. No matter how much others may try to copy, the proportions themselves will be different, as will the workmanship. None of our jewellery is made using machines. After designing the jewellery my father calls in the artisans and explains the design to them in detail, and each piece may require the work of six individual artisans, each doing his own speciality. This too makes what we do unique. You may find copies of our pieces but they will never be the same as the original. That is impossible."

The philosophy at Buccellati is to create stunning pieces of jewellery and silverware that are delicate and yet extremely elegant. Ostentation has never been a Buccellati trademark so that to own a Buccellati creation is not the result of a desire to flaunt 'the name'. So immediately recognisable is the Buccellati style that not even the name Buccellati appears on any of the pieces.

At the opening of the Beverly Hills store, Gianmaria Buccellati brought out fourteen original pieces that he has created over the past twenty-five years. These pieces, stored in the safes in Milan, are rarely brought out into the public arena so valuable are they as examples of Gianmaria's artistry. In time they will serve as his legacy, and Gianmaria has organised to leave them to a museum where they may remain a permanent record of these fine examples of the goldsmith/jewellers tradition.

Not all of Buccellati's creations are so uniformly refined however.

There was the time a wealthy Mexican woman asked that a sterling silver bed be made for her. Then there was the American Egyptophile who requested the interior of the mausoleum she was having built for her be fitted with imitation candles in silver to mimic the magnificence of the final resting place of the great Pharoahs. Both requests were accommodated without question, even though they were not the examples of art for which the Buccellati name had established an enviable reputation.

With two sons and a daughter all involved in the family business, Gianmaria Buccellati concentrates on focussing the direction of the business toward the future. Whilst his eldest son Gino looks after the factory where all the flatware is made, his other son Andrea looks after all the jewellery production while Maria Christina concentrates on promotion and advertising. In America, where the company is known simply as Buccellati, it is Gianmaria's nephew Mario who now oversees that side of the operations, including the Beverly Hills store.

Although they have stores in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Monte Carlo as well as the U.S., it is the store at Place Vendome in Paris, that is the crowning glory of Buccellati's success according to Gianmaria. It is here that their jewellery is pitted against the finest that the French houses have to offer, and does so splendidly.

"Jewellery really is the expression of a culture. Throughout history people have made jewellery to express their beliefs and traditions," reflects Gianmaria Buccellati with pleasure. "I have always admired jewellery for this aspect of its legacy. It expresses for us the very nature of the culture that inspired it, and this is true all over the world.

"While I have established stores throughout the world I have never attempted to produce jewellery that is for everyone. Buccellati is not for everyone. It is for those who have the same spirit and sense of refinement that we at Buccellati have worked so hard to develop. Because of this I will keep opening stores around the world, but only when I can be certain that there will not be a compromise of quality over quantity. Buccellati after all, is all about quality."

In Gianmaria's own words, "Buccellati is classic style in a jewel lived through modern times."