Italian Jewelry Museum To Debut ‘Dames and Knights’ Exhibition

Colonial Order of the Star of Italy Plaque and Sign of Great Cross. Photo by Martina Pace

By Maria Ling, Jewelry News Network Assistant Editor

The Museo del Gioiello in Vicenza, Italy, will hold a temporary exhibition focusing on jewels presented as honors in Italy, other European countries and even other world regions, a practice that stretched from the Middle Ages to modern times. Titled “Dames and Knights. Jewels of Honors,” it opens to the public Wednesday, March 24 and runs till September 17. An opening reception will be held March 23.

The items are curated to celebrate this artistic genre as a subject worth noting due to its quality, origin and proof of the history of different countries and geographical areas.

Order of the Crown Knight with spade. Photo by Martina Pace 

The temporary exhibition on the ground floor of the jewelry museum is arranged in two sections. The first will display about 40 Knighthood honors and decorations selected from pre-eminent and rare collections around the world. 

In addition, 10 items pay tribute to the collection of former Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, which were given to him by royal and government leaders.

Included in the display are honorary decorations that serve as symbols of Italian history. including: the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, the Insignia of the Grand Cross, the Collar of Our Lady of the Annunciation, the Grand Collar of St. George and the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy's Grand Cross.

Constantinian Order of St. George. Photo by Martina Pace 

A second section dedicated to Dames has about 10 items, including the Legion of Honor's Insignia of Knighthood and Insignia of the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani.

The itinerary takes a visitor on a journey through time and honorary decoration culture with provides explanations of their intrinsic and evocative meanings. It serves as a piece of Italian and European history that recalls a value that was handed down through the years with the aim of rewarding praiseworthy actions in the fields of literature, arts and economy and for commitment in carrying out public duties and activities for social, philanthropic and humanitarian purposes as well as for long-standing and remarkable services in civil and military careers.

Order of the National Merit of Civil Division. Photo by Martina Pace

Insignia, decorations and medals that date back to the 11th century with Knighthood honors bestowed purely on men who highly distinguished themselves, a usage that was extended to women in 1662.

The exhibition will also be presenting about ten creations by G.B. Ballarino, a goldsmith from a company with a long tradition in the field of honorary decorations, authorized to raise the arms of the Royal House of Savoy and the Royal House of Bulgaria with the inscription “fornitore della Real Casa” (Royal House supplier) through gold, enamel and precious stone cross pendants.

Order of Danilo I of Montenegro. Photo by
Martina Pace

The museum, the first in Italy and one of a few in the world dedicated to jewelry, is located inside the Basilica Palladiana and is managed by Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A. (IEG)—the trade show company generated by a merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza—in partnership with Vicenza Municipal Council.

The museum is the result of IEG’s commitment to promoting the universal culture of Italian gold and jewelry, a sector in which it is well known as a global Business Hub thanks to the VicenzaOro international jewelry trade show.

Royal Order of Cambodia. Photo by Martina Pace

For more information follow this link.

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Montblanc Can’t Decide On A Name For Its Villeret Watch Business

The Montblanc watchmaking facility in Villeret in 2012. Photo by Anthony DeMarco

What’s in a name? 

Once there was a company named Minerva in the picturesque Swiss town of Villeret whose history can be traced back to 1858. For most of the 20th Century it was known for producing high-performance hand-made chronograph movements. Then the 21st Century came along. In 2000 Italian investor Emilio Gnutti purchased the company and changed its mission to produce haute horlogerie timepieces using the same hand-made techniques and the philosophy of the brand. The new owner brought in Demetrio Cabiddu as its technical director.  

In 2006 Compagnie Financière Richemont acquired Minerva and turned it over to Montblanc to add a bit of Swiss heritage to its young watchmaking operation, which began in 1997 in Le Locle. Soon afterwards the name was changed to Villeret, after the town. The decision was either Montblanc's under the leadership of Lutz Bethge at the time, or Richemont's. 

Handmade movement components. Photo by Anthony DeMarco

In a 2012 interview when I visited the facility, Cabiddu, who protects the heritage of Minerva like it was his child was concerned about the name change. “Today I laugh about it a lot more. I used to cringe (when hearing the new name). In hindsight it was probably the right thing to do as we move into the future.”

Montblanc renamed the watchmaking workshop the “Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie” (Minerva Institute for Research in High Quality Watchmaking) and created a foundation under the same name. However, it was never clear how this institute or foundation operates.

A skilled watchmaker attaches the balance spring to the balance wheel and then sets it over a timing device with a reference balance. She checks the difference in beats and bends the spring until they match.  Photo by Anthony DeMarco

Despite this corporate takeover and name change the company still operated much the same way, as a separate workshop of about 40 workers producing about 200 limited-edition hand-made timepieces per year under the Villeret name. 

In 2013 Jérôme Lambert became the CEO of Montblanc and change came quickly. In less than a year Montblanc-branded watches appeared with Villeret movements at a broader range of prices and styles. 

The company, formerly called Minerva, was known for its chronograph movements. Here is some the company's earlier chronograph pocket watches.  Photo by Anthony DeMarco

In January at the Salon International Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva, Montblanc introduced two full collections and one limited edition piece. In form and function the new models pay tribute to the heritage of Minvera. In fact, the Villeret name is almost never used. Has Montblanc chosen to return the Minerva name to the watchmaking facility? I asked a spokesperson and the response I received is as follows [emphasis mine]: 

“The Manufacture in Villeret, Montblanc’s Movement & Innovation Excellence Center, is located in the same building in which the legendary Minerva Manufacture was founded in 1858 and focuses on the development, prototyping and assembly of all in-house movements from innovative and groundbreaking high-complications to small highly functional complications."

This is so confusing. 

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Beth Bernstein’s Book ‘If These Jewels Could Talk’ Set To Launch

Any day now writer and journalist Beth Bernstein will be celebrating the launch of her third book about jewelry. 

“If These Jewels Could Talk: The Legends Behind Celebrity Gems,” is part academic research, part a behind-the-scene look at celebrity and part emotional journey. With all of it involving jewels.

The book’s main focus is the glamour and glitz of Hollywood stars and their personal relationship with their gems and jewels primarily in the 20th Century, beginning at about the 1920s. However, political figures and others who celebrate the same style of the times also make their way onto the pages, including Coco Chanel, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Michelle Obama (a 21st Century figure). The book is filled with pictures and illustrations of jewels and their famous owners.

The book also looks at the impact of jewelry brands and their international growth and power in the high jewelry and fashion industries. They include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co, Harry Winston, David Webb and Verdura. The book’s cover shows the ruby, diamond, gold and platinum “Sash Heart” brooch, 1941, created by Verdura. It was commissioned by actor Tyrone Power for his wife, Annabella, for Christmas.

“Throughout the 20th Century the world’s most fabulous jewels have held tremendous sentimental and symbolic value, as they are linked to the most significant moments and memories of Hollywood ‘royalty,’ aristocracy and international icons of style,” Bernstein says. 

The time period is important because it is when the world became a more connected place through the introduction of modern travel and communication. The cultural influences of the Hollywood film industry spread to Europe while European style made its way to the US through the proliferation of magazines, movies and later television. This was the time that small European jewelry houses became international businesses with a huge influence on fashion. And it was the beginning of the influence celebrity fame and culture throughout the world. Stars and what they wore had a direct influence on mass appeal (as they do today) and the smarter and better-connected jewelry houses did their best to adorn these influencers with their jewels. 

Bernstein—a jewelry journalist for various publications and author of two previous books, and a jewelry historian—provides the personal tastes, anecdotes and the stories of the women who wore and collected the pieces. They include Elizabeth Taylor, the world’s most famous jewelry collector of the period, and socialite Helena Rubinstein who went out and bought her own pieces after arguments with her husband, dubbing them her “quarrel jewelry.” 

Wallis Simpson’s love story was told through her jewels. Grace Kelly’s emerald cut Cartier engagement ring appeared with her in the film, “High Society.” Marlene Dietrich was a collector who wore her jewels in several of her films.

There are also examples of jewels being a major influence on the plot of the film, such as the Cartier diamond bracelet in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat” and the Harry Winston diamond necklace in “Notorious.” 

The hardcover book, published by ACC Art Books, is $95 and will be available in the coming days. A launch party for the book will be held Thursday at Doyle & Doyle in New York, which specializes in vintage, antique, and estate jewelry. 

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