Catania, the city of Etna, from whose summits incandescent magma and fountains of fire continue to flow, will host the exhibition “Superstones: jewels from the heart of the earth,” the new creative project by designer Giovanni Raspini, inspired by the minerals released from bowels of the earth, they too, like lava stone, mysterious and fascinating.
A traveling event which, after Milan and Rome, will be hosted from 28th to 30th June at Palazzo Biscari, a place that represents an extraordinary example of the “black” baroque of Catania, with the typical chromatic contrast between the white stone of the decorations and the volcanic rock of the walls, which gives sumptuousness and austerity.
And it is in this setting that the Tuscan jeweler Giovanni Raspini will present thirty unique jewels, in style, richness and size, created with natural stones and minerals of every kind, color and type, which have replaced the traditional precious gems used in jewellery.
Great necklaces were born from the extraordinary combination of creative genius and goldsmith craftsmanship, amazing rings, enveloping bracelets and a wonderful tiara, in a continuous dialogue between matter, form and function, ornament, sculpture and lost wax casting.
“In a world of homologated products, true luxury lies in the uniqueness that only craftsmanship can create – declared designer Giovanni Raspini – I had been thinking about Superstones for a long time with the eccentric idea of replacing, in my creations of unique pieces, minerals and stones to the usual gems: use shiny crystals, minerals with phantasmagoric colours, dimensions and shapes, rare stones, materials unknown to most people, but also corals and baroque pearls”. “That of Superstones is an important challenge – he continues – since the decoration and the structure of the jewel itself takes into account and is in perfect stylistic harmony with the stones used, which become real narrative fragments. With great passion we searched for minerals from all over the world that were beautiful, rare and fascinating.”
Among the jewels on display: the Tutankhamun necklacemade with the wonderful stone Desert Glass, a very rare mineral of a straw color which was formed approximately 29 million years ago and which is also found set in the funerary works of the most famous of the pharaohs.
The Frog Bracelet, made with a rare specimen of Uvarovite, coming from Russia, characterized by a bright green which gives the effect of countless small and very shiny green crystals. The perfect prerequisite for disguising a rocky wall covered in moss and hidden in some shady forest.
The Stone Reef Necklace in which a sample of Vanadinite is set with a colour, shine and transparency worthy of the best specimens of this species. Precisely thanks to the fascination aroused by the color of the stone, it has become one of the protagonists of the creative project; there Parrots necklace, with the fluttering birds covered in colored enamels, the immense tropical leaves in golden bronze and the large malachite, a very intense green mineral which recalls, in shape and colour, the deep, pulsating heart of the Amazon jungle; the ring Deep blue, embellished with an intense azurite, on which delicate silver-gilt dolphins jump and chase each other; The Dragon Bracelet, whose fantasy inspiration is confronted with the material strength of metal and the claws almost seem to envelop and dominate the human wrist, while a fragment of rust-orange quartz remains embedded behind the monster’s head; there Bubbles necklace in a violet-colored chalcedony, with spherical bubbles made of white bronze and some luminous baroque pearls.
As with the other exhibitions of the Raspini brand, Superstones is also a large collective work with several high-level collaborators who have brought their own conceptual and artistic contribution. For Superstones, Giovanni Raspini involved professional interlocutors and industry experts.
