luxury
Forever is Damiani
Silvia Damiani celebrates life and the 85th anniversary
of her family’s jewelry business
Silvia Damiani has a passion for jewelry. It’s in her blood. Her grandfather, Enrico Grassi Damiani, founded his namesake company in 1924. Now, Silvia is both a designer and
the vice president. “We are a third generation company,” she says. “But we’re a young company in spirit. So we believe in tradition, but also innovation.” The
result is extremely creative jewelry that inevitably
becomes so much more than ornamentation. “I still
remember when my father chose the stones for this
ring, just for me,” Silvia says, toying with a diamond
on her index finger. “I think it’s a privilege that your
creations come into someone’s life at a very special
moment for them,” she explains. “Sometimes people
misunderstand when I say that my job makes me
richer!” Silvia says, referring to the sage maxim that
true wealth is measured not in money, but happiness. As a businesswoman, an arbiter of style and a
mother, Silvia has it all. Here, she tells us the secret to
her success.
AVENUE: Tell us about the Gomitolo 85th anniversary collection.
SILVIA DAMIANI: This is a limited collection so its
importance is tied to this particular time. It’s a different, colorful version of our Gomitolo ring, a pavé ring
and one of our most recognizable pieces. There are
12 different rings and each is named after an Italian
city (Florence, Mantua, Milan, Naples, Pisa, Portofino,
Rome, Siena, Taormina, Turin, Venice and Verona)
and engraved with a number from 1 to 85, so people can order a number that means something to
them. It’s a precious collection but also young and
fresh. It really expresses joy, and I think we need that,
especially in these times.
AVENUE: What was your involvement in the new film
Angels & Demons, and what’s the collection you
designed by that name like?
SD: Well, it was fantastic to work with Daniel Orlandi,
who is one of the greatest costume designers and is
a fantastic person that I’m really happy to have met.
I always want to learn new things, so it was really interesting to study the symbology behind the Catholic
Church’s jewelry and create pieces for this Cardinal
[character]. They’ll become part of our museum and
archives, but we also created [a for-sale collection]
