Silhouetted against an ombre dusk sky, its expansive courtyard lined with glass-encased candles, and dressed in dramatic lights and red ribbons, Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera makes for a beautiful sight this evening. I’m highly aware that I’m seeing a side of the art museum that few, if any, have seen before. And this is all thanks to Pomellato, which has brought us here for the launch of its sixth, and largest, high jewellery collection to date, Collezione 1967.
It makes sense that Pomellato would unveil its newest jewels in the cultural gem of its birth city. As Pomellato CEO Sabina Belli shared the previous day, the brand supports La Grande Brera, an initiative formed in December 2024 to link three of the city’s prominent cultural institutions: the Pinacoteca di Brera, Palazzo Citterio, and the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense.
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Marvellous Milan
“Compared to Rome, Florence or Venice, which are much more museum-oriented types of cities, Milan has been seen for many years as a more business or shopping city—even though Milan has this incredible culture, hidden behind the doors of these incredible museums,” Belli says. “So this event was a way for us to celebrate both the launch of our new high jewellery collection as well as this wonderful La Grande Brera project for a very joyful, cultural moment.”
And a joyful, cultural moment is exactly what the jeweller delivers tonight. The museum’s Sale Napoleoniche is filled with laughter and chatter—not least from celebrity guests America Ferrera, Laura Harrier, Laetitia Casta, and Cha Joo-young, who are deep in conversation with one another as they await the presentation that is to start in a few minutes. The vaulted hall, home to monumental canvases and Antonio Canova’s towering Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker statue, has been transformed for this special occasion with cocktail chairs and carpets that weave within its art-filled walls.
Suite Of Light
As the lights shift and the music begins to play, I position myself at the edge of my seat for a better view of how Pomellato’s newest gems look on the body, eager for a glimpse of the House’s vision brought to life. My expectations are high, having spent over a good part of the previous day with Creative Director Vincenzo Castaldo and Gem Master Stefano Cortecci for an up-close encounter with the creations. And as the first of 18 models walks into the hall, it’s clear that the brand has indeed achieved exactly what it set out to do.
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“It’s a collection that takes inspiration from our past and our heritage to celebrate the decades that shaped the Pomellato identity and personality,” Castaldo told me the day before. “It was an exercise that was deeply intense for my team and I because it’s not only about knowing the history of Pomellato, but [also about] identifying the fundamental aesthetic codes of the brand—and this needs much more focus and concentration. We had to create a map of Pomellato starting from 1967 [when it was founded] to the end of the last century.”
Chain Letters
Comprising 75 designs, Collezione 1967 is themed to three decades. The 1970s chapter, The Chain Revolution, pays homage to founder Pino Rabolini’s radical idea that the humble chain could be elevated to the very essence of a jewel. Here, chains not so much set the stage for the gems they frame but take centre stage as stars in their own right.
The Blue Chain Cascade, for example, is anchored by a 22.23-carat Ceylon sapphire in a darling hue that Cortecci calls cornflower blue. But the feature that draws you first in at first glance is its chain construction, which features two different-sized and -shaped chains whose surfaces have been entirely covered with Pomellato’s signature irregular diamond setting. It’s imposing yet sensuous, statement-making and sophisticated, draping across the neck and down the décolletage like a waterfall in the moonlight, bathing the body in lights that twinkle with its every move.
“Honestly, this is the piece that showed us that we were going in the right direction; it was a key interpretation of our heritage,” Castaldo shared when we viewed the necklace yesterday. “That’s why I’m very linked to this piece, because it was the perfect angle to start this whole process. When I saw this piece, I knew we could go ahead in this direction.”
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Another stunner is the Aquamarine Dream, which modifies and modernises Pomellato’s iconic forçat chain from the decade. Tapering at the back ever so subtly, the diamond-cloaked links lie flat against the body, while giving the illusion of roundedness and volume. Special machine tools were created to form the links, which were then individually diamond-set and finished by hand. A luscious 37.98-carat aquamarine cabochon is paired with a 15.95-carat faceted aquamarine drop to finish the piece with panache.
Eighties Extravagance
The 1980s chapter, aptly called Breaking the Rules of Design, pushes form and volume to dramatic extremes. As Castaldo put it, having established a firm foundation in goldsmithing in the 1970s, Pomellato began to explore more creatively, with “a kind of freedom,” when the 1980s arrived. In this range, the stones seem to abandon restraint and restriction, embracing volume with an unapologetic, vibrant presence.
The Asimmetrico Tanzanite necklace, unmistakably inspired by the decade’s love of bold, geometric shapes, features a spectacular 55.96-carat tanzanite of violet-blue depths that anchors its rose-gold frame of 78 diamond-set modules with its irregular shape and cut. The Rivière Zigzag parure sees rubellites and green tourmalines—pear-, oval-, and square-shaped—clustered asymmetrically to create a dynamic, almost sculptural surface of colour. Then there are the generously sized cocktail rings featuring peridots, kunzites, tanzanites, and rubellites that seem to burst forth from their pavé gold frames with exuberance and energy, perfectly keeping with the decade’s penchant for drama.
Colour Supreme
Travel forward a few years and Pomellato’s emblematic love affair with colours comes into full bloom in The Chromatic Vision of the 1990s. This is perhaps where Cortecci’s earnest diligence in hunting down the best gems shows itself most.
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The wild extravagance of the ’80s gives way to a flamboyance that is polished and refined. The Lagoon Bavarole necklace features a multi-strand curtain spotlighting 47 green tourmalines in graduated hues that showcase nature’s spectrum of verdant light. The irregular pebble-shaped stones create a visual rhythm that gives the necklace an almost botanical energy.
In the bulbous Marvellous Griffe series of earrings and rings, cabochons in an artist’s palette of rubellites, garnets, aquamarines, peridots, watermelon tourmalines and more, invite light to dance across their surfaces, creating playful juxtapositions or harmonious tone-on-tone nuances with their pavé surroundings.
Pomellato's Palette
Underscoring the entire collection is an emotive love song that sings of a deep love for gems. While other jewellers would stick to classic precious stones for their high jewellery suites, rarely venturing away from the expected, Pomellato celebrates the breadth and depth that gems offer: Milky aquamarines, cornflower blue Ceylon sapphires, watermelon tourmalines, indigolites and heliodors are cut to accentuate their individual characters, sometimes taking on a geode-like look that beguiles with an intentional rawness.
As Castaldo shares: “This collection comes at the right moment. Our first high jewellery collection, launched in 2021, was well-received, but we are now more at ease—and this is important because we are handling a significant treasure that is our heritage. It was only yesterday that I saw the entire collection together, because so far, I had only seen individual pieces. I was very proud; we did a very good job.”
Later that evening, as I sit at dinner chatting with my table companions about the collection, I agree that Castaldo has much to be proud of. Collezione 1967 doesn’t simply revisit the brand’s past; it reframes it for the present with a wink and a flourish, and lays a solid stage for the brand to soar—in full technicoloured glory.
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Please tell us more about the launch in Milan.
It’s an event of pure joy and love for our friends—whether they be editors, influencers, or VIPs—who have amplified our work throughout these years. It’s our way of thanking everyone while unveiling our latest high jewellery so that guests can understand the bigger vision and the higher purpose of why Pomellato is developing further into high jewellery. I really hope that they will see Pomellato’s absolute quintessence, design, and style, and go, “Wow, this is so Pomellato.” This is really the effect that [Creative Director] Vincenzo [Castaldo], together with [Gem Master] Stefano [Cortecci], want to achieve: To stretch our very Pomellato-ness into another league. I would love for our guests to get close to these pieces and see the extraordinary talent that our goldsmiths possess in producing each one by hand, using a technique that has been passed down through generations. Lastly, I hope that people will have fun, because it’s a moment to be together, celebrate, and just relax.
Why was it essential for Pomellato to expand into high jewellery?
You have different leagues where you can play, and of course, if you play in your original league, you can become a good player, but risk staying in a comfort zone. So it was strategic at one point to say, “Okay, how can we do better what we already do very well? And how do we grow with our client who is getting more mature and with more spending power?” We began in 2021 with our first high jewellery collection, and we received a great and very enthusiastic response, which gave us the energy and self-confidence to move forward. Our incredible 150 in-house goldsmiths are already accustomed to creating one-of-a-kind pieces, as all our jewellery is handmade. This is a way for them to play in an even more fun way, by challenging themselves in a difficult league.
The brand is also heavily involved in numerous corporate social responsibility programmes, not least in the area of female empowerment. Tell us more about that.
It’s a question of responsibility. At some point, any company operating in commerce must step back and ask: “What is the higher purpose for my company?” For us, step one is “let’s talk about our jewellery”. Step two is “let’s talk about you”. Step three is, “what can I do for you?” Ours is a relationship with women, as most of our consumers are women, and therefore, a dialogue naturally occurs. Apart from our jewels, the number one thing we want to tell women is that we care about them; it’s what Pomellato has done since the beginning because our founder knew that stronger support, a higher level of understanding, and empowerment, were needed for women. And this is the dialogue we want.