Life in Colour
of Part jewellery, part watch, the Fendi Policromia is the brainchild Delfina Delettrez, jewellery designer and fourth-generation member of the Fendi family. Karishma Tulsidas discovers the story behind this striking design
Policromia is the perfect cyborg mosaic… It embodies the idea of several colours together, with a reminder of a surreal goddess living in a far world.” For Delfina Delettrez, this allusion to a world of surrealism is deeply ingrained in her own jewellery line, which she set up in 2007. From its inception, her eponymous jewellery brand was unabashedly dramatic in its aesthetic. There was no place for the conventional, as diamonds were showcased upside down; midi rings replaced traditional rings; parts of the human anatomy became recurring motifs; and stones were selected for their colour and uniqueness, not their brilliance or rarity. This fourth-generation member of the Fendi family had previously collaborated with the Italian maison on a couple of jewellery collections, but the Policromia marks the first time they have worked together on a watch—or for that matter, the first time that she has designed a timepiece. Elements of surrealism abound in the collection, as evinced by its source of inspiration, “cyborg attitude and Grecian ethos”. She says, “My aesthetic is surreal as I like to design what has not been designed yet, going beyond existing things. Policromia reminds me of a surreal goddess, a powerful and feminine divinity with mystic powers and virtues influencing time and shaping the future.” The intriguing combination of different metallic finishes, including rhodium, yellow and white gold, as well as the use of stones such as malachite and lapis lazuli offer a distinctive 1970s vibe, but the execution of the timepiece is absolutely contemporary. Delettrez discusses the inspiration for the timepiece, and her passion for stones.