Vendorafa

Valenza, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, has been the center of Italian fine goldsmithing for more than a century. The techniques practiced there — hand-engraving, granulation, repoussé, intricate stone-setting — pass from generation to generation in family workshops where craft is never separated from art. Vendorafa is one of Valenza’s finest houses.

The house works in 18k gold with an emphasis on textured surfaces and three-dimensional form. The pieces carry the heft and substance of objects made to last centuries — because in Valenza, that is simply what jewelry is meant to do. Color comes from high-quality diamonds and gemstones chosen for their relationship to the gold, not their marketability. Vendorafa occupies a specific and enviable position: too refined to be fashion, too vibrant to be conservative — the Italian middle ground very few houses find.

What pulled me to Vendorafa was the organic nature of the shapes and the finishes — jewelry easy enough to wear every day, with far more style than ease usually allows.