Like small, precious details of great architecture masterpieces, the jewels by CO.RO. – Architecture à porter surprise with their original design, expressed through the universal and timeless canons of art and beauty, between past, present and future. Thus, in a ring, necklace or bracelet, in the harmonious yet pure and austere geometries, one can discover admirable visions of the Pantheon, the Roman Aqueduct, Castel del Monte, the Palace of Italian Civilization, Palazzetto Zuccari, Cà d’Oro, the Uffizi Gallery, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. These visions that cross eras, styles, countries and cities enhance amazing details of magnificent buildings that sometimes an engraved revealing phrase, half-hidden in the edge of a ring, enriches with meaning.
“The kind of jewelry we make came about in a very spontaneous and natural way, just like the brand, not as a business project, but driven by our greatest passion, which was, and still is, architecture,” explains Giulia Giannini, who, together with Costanza de Cecco (both architects), founded CO.RO. in 2012. “While we were in our first year of university, we attended an academy and private courses and started making the first prototypes for ourselves. We realized that they had a leitmotiv: a very strong geometric component and the fact that they interpreted architecture, buildings, works that somehow impressed and educated us, from which we were trying to extract some details to make them wearable. Being able to shape something with our own hands, to design it and then make it with micro-sculpture is a project that really bewitched us; therefore, we have continued on this path, encouraged by the very affectionate and generous response of our clients who are passionate about our project.”
What is the meaning of the name you chose for your brand?
The name has two meanings. The first is a tribute to our friendship, born at the Collegio Romano, which houses the Ennio Quirino Visconti high school. The second refers to the fact that jewelry is the result of the work of a chorus composed of designers, goldsmiths and artisans who work together.
What inspires you?
We do not set boundaries for ourselves. We have been making jewelry for over ten years and we have always found a new interesting subject for us. Besides Roman Baroque, we are particularly interested in industrial archaeology and contemporary architecture. We made a small collection dedicated to Jean Nouvel at the Arab World Institute in Paris. We made small jewels that had the module of the façade as their basis and repeated it in different scales to create dynamism and an interplay of perspectives. The most interesting thing about this building, besides its aesthetics, is the technology, namely the fact that these modules are built with the same mechanism as a camera’s exposure meter, so, depending on the light the outside receives, they open or close to filter optimal light inside the building. To highlight this technological aspect, we engraved φῶς γραφη on one side of the jewel, which means “drawing light”, the two words from which the word “photography” is derived. This is a small detail, but it encapsulates in two words a fundamental meaning that we did not want to lose. Engraving is a practice we enjoy but we do not force it. On another ring inspired by the Pantheon dome, we engraved a quote from Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian,” which we read at school and was crucial in our choice of the Faculty of Architecture. The quote reads “I felt responsible for the beauty of the world.”
What will be the theme of the next collection and when will it come out?
It will come out in December and is the result of a collaboration with Galleria Borghese, which invited us to make some jewels inspired by its collection or building. We chose to tell the story of the Secret Gardens, and in particular the Sundial and the Bird House, using the plan of the garden and adding the design of these two small buildings. We made a pair of earrings, a bracelet, a ring and two small pieces that are dedicated to a very special capital that we had never seen before and that looks like an Ionic capital with two flowers instead of volutes.
