Superstones
Fonderia Napoleonica, Milan
May 24th, 2024 – June 2nd, 2024
The story of Giovanni Raspini is that of an architect with a passion for design and fashion who, through his entrepreneurial style, lays the foundations to transform a common jewelry company, founded in 1972, into what is today a sophisticated and competitive reality. The attention to every moment of the manufacturing process and a constantly evolving style have been the elements he decided to focus on from the very beginning, making the company what it is today. The Superstones exhibition is conceived as a true stylistic and conceptual challenge: seeking the beauty of jewelry in the unusual. Replacing minerals and stones with the precious gems traditionally used in jewelry, thus creating a sort of revolution and opening up the space to new visions. The fracture that Giovanni Raspini triggers with this sumptuous exhibition is disruptive: on one hand, the absence of gems and precious stones, on the other, the vivid presence of stones and natural minerals of every type, origin, and appearance.
“I had been thinking about Superstones for a long time, with the eccentric idea of replacing, in my unique creations, minerals and stones with the usual gems: using shiny crystals, minerals with colors, sizes, and phantasmagoric shapes, rare stones, and materials unknown to most”.
The exhibition, focused on showcasing thirty jewels, stands out for its boldness and innovation in the field of contemporary jewelry. From maxi necklaces to rings, from bracelets to the tiara, each piece is designed to enhance the beauty and uniqueness of minerals. With Superstones, the Tuscan designer has managed to see the artistic potential of the stones chosen for his creations by observing their beauty, uniqueness, scientific value, and emotional significance, never forgetting the design aspect of each jewel, in a continuous dialogue between lost-wax casting and ornament, form and function. Among the jewels on display, the Stone Reef necklace stands out, where the dialogue between the madrepores of the coral reef shaped in bronze and the stones born in the depths of the Earth is highlighted thanks to the beauty and rarity of the minerals used; the Pappagalli necklace, covered with colored enamels along with the immense tropical leaves in gilded bronze, but above all the great malachite: a mineral of an intense green that recalls, in shape and color, the heart of the Amazon jungle. The Profondo Blu ring is adorned with an intense azurite, on which golden silver dolphins chase each other. It continues with the Drago bracelet – sumptuous and imposing – and the Bollicine necklace, in a precious violet chalcedony, completed by the spherical bubbles made of white bronze and luminous baroque pearls. A work of creation and research that gradually reflects itself in the very soul of the Tuscan brand, influencing and providing vital energy to new proposals and seasonal collections. The Superstones exhibition is the most recent of the many initiatives and events that the brand has dedicated over the years to the theme of jewelry creation, from Wild/Segni to Vanitas Mundi, from Gioielli to Wunderkammer to Giro del mondo. Apparently different themes, yet united by the same creative and disruptive spirit that characterizes the entire creative and professional journey of Raspini.
“It is a significant challenge for Superstones, as the decoration and structure of the jewel take into account and are in perfect stylistic harmony with the stones used, which become true narrative fragments”.
