Percossi Papi jewels, a unique style

Good morning, my precious friends, today I will tell you about a chance encounter with one of the greatest masters of Italian gold jewelery, Diego Percossi Papi.I was in my office, on a usual boring working day, and as I was passing from one room to another I saw a gentleman sitting on the desk with one of my bosses, drawing on a blank sheet of paper with a pencil. Looking at him I realized I was almost sure I knew him…Obviously, my curiosity distracted me… So I asked a colleague who was passing by on the corridor,and he told me that the person sitting there is Giuliano Percossi Papi… At that point I couldn’t miss the opportunity to introduce myself to him.
Giuliano and his sister Valeria both contributed to the creation of Diego’s brand, which is now one of the most appriciated and recognized brands of Italian jewelry in the world.Getting to know Percossi Papi’s family was really an honor and a pleasure for me, and being able towear some of their masterpieces was an extremely exciting and rewarding experience.

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Those of you who, like me, have an appreciation of the world of jewelry know perfectly well that Diego Percossi Papi has been for years one the most important representatives of Italian goldsmith art in the world, winning thousands of national and international awards and also collaborating with the film industry. But despite all this, the most important thing for me is that all members of this extraordinary family have welcomed me into their workshop, a real shop of wonders, like a friend, a possible collaborator, even though there is a big experience gap between us.Maria Teresa, Diego’s wife, together with Giuliano, introduced me to the secrets of their incredible work, to the discovery of how their wonderful jewels are being born, starting from the idea, to the working methods, up to the complete final realization.

I got lost amongst small polygone sculptures, complex jewels of baroque style, amongst gold necklaces and incredible reproductions of animals, enameled sailboats, jewels that you imagine around the neck of a royal lady. I felt teleported into a fantasy world, where everything is possible, where no jewelry is excessive, where even the glitz is a game as well as a way of living.Any article you read about Diego Percossi Papi will tell you that his inspirations come mainly from history, but I saw in his jewels a whole world, a real passion for beauty, for sculptures, for nature and for life.His creations are never banal or obvious, they are instead unique and unrepeatable pieces, created for a single person, for a neck, an ear, a specific face, made especially for that.
This is perhaps the secret of his succes in the cinema. Each jewel is born for a specific situation or for a single drama. Directors like the Taviani brothers, Monicelli or Diaz Yanes chose his masterpieces for the faces of Cate Blanchett, Leatitia Casta, Sofia Loren, Isabelle Huppert and many other women from the entertainment world.
The cinema has increased the notoriety of an artist who, since 1968, the year in which he began his activity, has established himself in first the Italian and then also the international art scene.His main productions are linked to jewelry, but he always created objects of various kinds as well, from ecclesiastical furnishings to accessories for the haute couture.
However, don’t think that this is the result of an industrial type of work, as I already told you, each of his objects is unique and unrepeatable and he always makes sure that each object is intimately linked to the person who wears and owns it.Each work is born out of a careful observation, from the incredibly rapid analysis of the person in front of him… An innate, primordial instinct that leads him to identify a specific detail as the source of inspiration for his creations…The copper soaked in gold, from which he acquired the unmistakable warm hue, is therefore only his expressive means and the colored glazes are his magic brush… The result is precisely that unmistakeable and personal style in which creativity, shapes, colors and materials become the protagonists.The historical reinterpretation, the nature, the artistic culture, are nothing more than tools that Percossi Papi uses to create the iconic symbols of the face that he has in front of him, basically that enviable characteristic that only true artists have to extract the true essence, the soul of each of us… Sorry, friends, but today, wearing some of these masterpieces, I really allowed myself to be taken into the world of my childhood dreams… That’s why I won’t list you all the countless international awards that this marvelous artist has received over the years.
I hope I have tickled your curiosity, and for those who have the great fortune to live or go to Rome, I invite you to go and visit the wonderful shop of Diego Percossi Papi on the Piazza del Pantheon, and I’m sure that you will be amazed by his creations.For those of you who don’t live in Rome, you can visit the site www.percossipapi.com or buy his creations on sites like www.net-a-porter.com Till soon, my dear readers!