Rosmundo, an extraordinary past, rooten in a present time which looks to an alwaysmore digital future.
Extraordinary, the most recurrent adjective in my interview with Maestro Rosmundo Giarletta. Extraordinary as the soul of a child who stares at the constant joyful expression of the Master, his inexhaustible curiosity towards beauty; beautifully simple and majestic at the same time. Just like his masterpieces, a simple and perfect observation of nature that translates into months and months of work, entirely done by hand. Rosmundo is bespoke of jewels, the living jewel, the jewel that speaks, the sun that smiles. Rosmundo is joy, freedom, Rosmundo is goodness, purity. And his work could only be the specular expression of these attributions, which, I can hardly believe I can say, are objective and that I am happy to tell you.
MASTER, WHO IS ROSMUNDO?
Rosmundo Gioielleria is born in Eboli in 1962, leaves Eboli after 6 months and moves with its family to the North of Italy. We are talking about a path of a life of work 37 years long. He who is interviewing me wasn’t even born. Usually, we speak about the present, but hardly ever of the past. My past is a beautiful past, extraordinary and joyful, above all because I made my life dream come true: that of becoming a goldsmith and returning to Eboli. My northern experience was very positive because it gave me the possibility to grow and understand how to organise myself. Many years ago, nobody spoke about autonomous work, us sons of southerners were destined to work in factories. My parents used to tell me “You have to study and follow your dreams”. And it was my mother who gave me the input of jewels. When we used to go to the market, she used to stop and look at costume jewellery and made me think to myself “I want to give you jewels, but jewels made by me”. And that’s what was. I was educated in the artistic Lyceum in Varese, then, together with my parents, I made the important decision to move to the capital of goldsmiths: Florence. There, I frequented the artistic private school and had to work hard to pass all my exams that year, because maintaining me was a financial sacrifice for my parents. Then, I had the fortune of working in a shop in Ponte Vecchio, the Master there taught me the “how to dos”. It’s wonderful being able to say “I can do something”. That Master introduced me to a new world and stimulated me to go “I’m going home” and start my first Goldsmiths’ in Eboli. There when my heart beats and used to beat. It was 1981.
WHAT MADE YOU GO HOME?
My life has been extraordinary and is wonderful because first I found an extraordinary wife, Rosaria, who has always believed in my ideas even having to make many sacrifices. Initially, our sales were very few, but there was the dream of becoming something important over the years. And to do that, I had to build my artistic identity. Having an identity I think it’s the most important thing right now; identify a style in Rosmundo. To get to this we gave up so much economic income that could have come from more commercial and emulative jobs to dedicate ourselves to our identity. And since a person must be behind a jewel, we have created our own style. Rosaria. She gave me the opportunity to express myself best in the places I like best. When I married the history and the beauty of my lands, the real Rosmundo that we all know today was born.
WHICH WAS THE FIRST PROJECT SIGNED ROSMUNDO?
It was the year 1996. I took a year to make it happen. The masterpiece of masterpieces: the Te Deum. In 1996 I was invited by the Campania Region to represent Campania in the world. Through them, I went to Miami, Paris and when they saw that my products began to have an identity, they said, “Why don’t you come to Montecarlo to represent your work?”. On that occasion I met some people including a young prince Alberto: it was the beginning of our long relationship. In 1996 I arranged this fair in Montecarlo and they asked me if I would take part in a competition of ideas because the following year, the 700 years of the Grimaldi family were celebrated and something extraordinary can be done. And I, through the history of my land, through the city of Campagna, retracing the local history and remembering my grandfather, being from Campagna, a fiefdom of the Grimaldi, told me the story of the French prince who arrived on horseback. And here’s what fate wanted. I met Prince Ranieri at the palace and made the Te Deum for him. In this work there is the whole history of the principles of Monaco, starting from Francesco Grimaldi up to Alberto di Monaco.
700 precious stones for 700 years of the principality. The Grimaldi crest is made up of white and red lozenges, for which I used white diamonds and red rubies, the colours of the principality. On these diamonds, I managed to place 700 stones in a symmetrical and perfect way. Around the emblem I perforated all the names, starting from the forefather, Francesco Grimaldi up to Alberto and there I made a mistake because, rightly, we did not know if Alberto would become prince. For this, I was also taken back, but I replied that I was an artist and that I think he would become a prince. So it was and it was a beautiful thing.
I used all the sides of the work including the border to give a soul to it. With the Te Deum, I created the first boxed jewel, the jewel became truly three-dimensional where each side had a representation and an intrinsic meaning. On the verse, I wanted to give an interpretation of faith and devotion to God, the principles are very Catholic so I wanted to represent the emblem of the Grimaldi at the centre, obtained through the technique I invented the figurative Wasp Nest, then under the emblem I wanted to represent a boat that is the boat of Saint Devote, the patron saint of the Monaco principality. Below we find the progenitor Francesco Grimaldi who in 1297 managed to conquer the fortress where the princes currently live. Being a work dedicated to Prince Ranieri, I wanted to represent the bond that he had with Princess Grace Kelly, with a symbol that had a double meaning: I wanted to represent the Harp. The harp is the symbol of Ireland, the homeland of Grace, but at the same time the instrument with which the Psalter Te Deum was raised to God the Creator, for which there was this bivalence. At the side we find two geese, the symbol of the guardian; just like “the geese of the capital” paid attention to the Roman capital also the princes must be careful of possible enemies. At the top, we find two dolphins that symbolize intelligence, rescue at sea and the fertility of the prince. Above the pierced stem there is always my stem, the laughing sun (it was the first sun) and to close the work two huge hands that represent the hands of God to the perennial protection of the principality of Monaco.
The container was made with my own design, it is nothing but the representation of a rough diamond, turned upside down, with the tip upwards, in wood. This box consists of eight sides that would be the basic cut of a diamond and on each segment there are all the names of the Lords of Monaco, for centuries until 1997, dedicated to Prince Ranieri. At the top there is a lid that if removed, the diamond becomes a sun. Opening the central work, it begins to rotate counterclockwise to retrace the entire history of the Princes of Monaco. Continue reading clicking the button below >
MASTER, YOU MENTIONED YOUR TECHNIQUE FIGURATIVE WASP NEST. CAN YOU EXPLAIN IT TO US?
With my fretwork bow, I cut the metal out of the honeycomb that takes shape in images with a deep intrinsic meaning. This peculiarity distinguishes all my jewels. The particularity of Rosmundo jewellery, high jewellery, is that they are all perforated on the verso, on the front and on the edge. It is not simply a decorative jewel, I value what is the thought and the identity of the person who wears it. A Rosmundo jewel is a real walking thought.
WHAT ROLE DID YOUR CHILDREN HAVE IN YOUR WORK?
In my life, there is a fundamental passage that I will never forget: The birth of my first son Giuseppe, to whom Francesco followed. All this gave me an impetus, a strength to become even more unique to leave them something really important. Having an identity is worth much more than finances. My children have always accompanied me in these my works. Giuseppe used to come to the shop and touch the Te Deum with his own hands. For them it was essential to touch, they saw with their own eyes an idea become reality. So thanks to them and my wife Rosaria I got to this level. Now they are even closer because they have really taken my own path. When Francesco saw that I was doing Parsifal, another of my masterpieces, he too said, “One day I’ll do Parsifal”.
The thing that unites us is passion, that for them is an identity, not a job. Working and making a honeycomb for us is a peculiarity because they identify in this technique. If they had not had this passion, Rosmundo would have ended with me.
My son Giuseppe came to the shop, learned my technique perfectly, then at a certain point said: “Dad I have to go to Eboli because if I stay here with you, we will never grow up. My dream is that we become a brand “. It was the first time in my life that I heard about brands because I was used to talking about shops, crafts, historical sites. So it was that Giuseppe left a certain job in the shop to go to London.
I was very wary, I make works of art and he made me understand the identity and construction of a recognizable brand can get along. And that only in this way can we compete at great levels. We have a unique history and technique. When you see the figurative honeycomb, it’s Rosmundo.
WHAT CHANGES DID YOU MAKE TO WELCOME NEW GENERATIONS?
The novelty today is that, first of all, I am supported by my children, the wind of youth that I needed. My work is long, of hours and hours of work, I have built a library and with a library comes dust. They took away the dust with a young design and audience. And so Rosaria and I opened up to social media. We did not love advertising because time ago if you wanted to advertise in magazines, the prices were absurd. I’ll give you an example, let’s talk about Vogue Gioiello, a magazine that disappeared and that was our Bible that we all aspired to. For a single facade they asked me for 30 million lire, 15 thousand euros! With the advent of social media, an extraordinary world has opened up, extraordinary opportunities. With little, we address a global audience. My doors have opened up to the world, allowing the story of Rosmundo to be told around the world is simply extraordinary. We hired a social media manager, which is a position I did not know about.
I wanted to reflect ìwhat was my image on social media and we are doing great things. Social media gave me the opportunity to open my mind to what is my land because I discovered how jewels can interact with wonderful places that surround me every day. I feel emotion where there is nature, where there is the landscape. Nature gives me an emotion that I transform into jewels. An emotion that, together with the digital department, we try to instil to all our followers. Think about this: we started from scratch and, in just 6 months, already more than 100 thousand people followed us between Instagram and Facebook! Continue reading the end of the interview clicking the button below >
TO CONCLUDE, WHAT PLANS DOES ROSMUNDO HAVE FOR THE FUTURE?
The first step was to form a company where each component has a well-defined role. After many generational discussions, I took 10 steps back and made myself available. I gave responsibility and I have my responsibilities. Francesco and I are the artisans, my wife takes care of the financial side, my son Giuseppe from London takes care of the big customers and we have outsourced the communication to one of the best agencies on the market. With these bases, I can project myself towards the future.
I’ll tell you an episode. When I was named Cavaliere to the art and culture of the Principality, Princess Caroline of Monaco, to pay homage to my presence, wanted to wear my own pendant on the occasion of the national holiday in Munich. She looked out of the building to greet his people with my jewel.
Together with my children, now I want our jewels to be worn by the most beautiful women in the world.
GRAZIE MAESTRO!
Thank you!
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