The highlight of Pomellato’s new high jewelry collection, the Gourmette Caméléon, organizes a multitude of colored stones according to 27 different nuances.
Milan—Pomellato has launched its first high jewelry collection, and the Italian jewelry brand used many, many gems to help tell the story.
“La Gioia di Pomellato” comprises 165 pieces made in 18-karat gold that carry the brand’s signature elements—a passion for color and gemstones that aren’t used often, gourmette chains and large links, and irregular settings—but with less restraint and even more sophistication.
The brand has used 50 different gemstone varieties across the new collection.
It might surprise some that the 53-year-old brand hasn’t had a high jewelry collection before, but for CEO Sabina Belli, it’s not that far from what the brand already creates.
“In Italy, we don’t like to separate in the way of living and in our lifestyle things for every day and things for special moments. Every day is a special moment,” she said during a virtual presentation of the collection.
“So, I like to consider this collection almost like a high jewelry tribute to all the very long-time pillar pieces of our collections.”
The necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings in the high jewelry collection were crafted by the workers at the Pomellato workshop in Milan, where 100 in-house goldsmiths design, hand carve, and hand set the jewels.
And a labor of love it was, with some pieces set with thousands of stones and others taking hundreds of hours to produce.
One will still see the inspiration drawn from iconic Pomellato jewels like the Nudo rings and Ritratto’s use of hardstones.
Pomellato also has long included chains in its collections, with styles dating back to the 1960s, but has made it its mission to reimagine the jewelry staple.
It’s pushing still further with the new high jewelry collection’s highlight—the “Gourmette Caméléon” choker.
The piece features 29 gold links set with a gradation of colored gemstones—from various multicolored sapphires to emeralds, tourmalines, spinel, tsavorite and other garnets, rubies, tanzanite, aquamarine, topaz and diamonds, perfectly arranged in an order according to 27 color nuances.
It took nearly 200 hours of work to create, Pomellato said.
There are also all diamond versions of the piece—“Gourmette Assoluta,” comprised of almost 3,000 stones, features white diamonds in white gold or cognac diamonds on pink gold.
In the virtual presentation, Belli said, “Gems bring energy, and we love to believe that when you have this cascade … you are infused by the magic of the stones.”
to have really taken that to heart with some of the collection’s pieces.
Inspired by its well-known Nudo designs, the new Nudo necklaces in La Gioia feature gemstones cut with the “Clessidra” style (Italian for hourglass)—the double-sided cut places 57 facets on the top and bottom of the gems.
One version of the Nudo Cascade, for example, pairs peridot and white topaz, with these cascading stones accented with tsavorite garnets and gold.
There’s also the resplendent Nudo Plastron, a collier necklace with draped gold chains and colored gemstones.
The version pictured in the gallery below offers rainbow rows of gems—topaz, peridot, amethyst, spessartite and rhodolite garnet, tourmaline and lemon quartz—but there are also solid color offerings.
Pomellato also celebrates colored stone pave with Pavé Sabbia; hardstones like rhodonite, amazonite and malachite through the Mineralismo jewels; and specific color groupings with three sets of rich, lush Rivière jewels.
The brand also balanced the color in the collection with monochrome tones. The Iconica Choker is set with 1,706 white diamonds and took 226 hours to produce, creating a setting so smooth it looks like the stones are coating the gold.
La Gioia officially launched on July 1. All prices are available upon request.
Click through the slideshow to see more pieces from the high jewelry collection or watch the brand’s virtual presentation on YouTube.
The Nudo Collier Plastron necklace
The Pavé Sabbia Flamingo pieces feature pink sapphires and rubies in ombre gradient against a rose gold background
The Rivière jewels feature three sets of necklaces, rings and earrings, each celebrating a unique color. Rivière Grenat, as pictured here, features a deep red pyrope garnet complemented by clusters of cognac diamonds.
A Mineralismo bracelet featuring rhodonite with black diamond and pink sapphire accents in rose gold
Sabbia of Tahiti adds Tahitian pearls to the collection. The set—a Y necklace, earrings and double finger ring—accents the pearls with white, cognac and black diamonds in rose gold.
The Rivière Péridot Menthe creates a green story using rich peridot with tsavorite garnets and brown diamond accents.
Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.
