THE SECRET GARDEN

Italian jewellery designer Pasquale Bruni’s newest collection pays homage to women and nature and if those wearing it are anything to go by, it’s a winning formula, writes Kirstie Bedford.

Eugenia Bruni’s mission with her new collection, Giardini Segreti – meaning ‘secret garden’ – was to empower women. To bring out an emotion in the jewels she created that would give women a sense of freedom and power when they wore them. And you only need to look at those who have chosen to don these striking floral motifs to see Bruni has achieved her goal: Michelle Obama, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Lucy Liu and Naomi Campbell, to name but a few.

Living a legacy

Pasquale Bruni was just 20 years old when he started creating jewellery in the ’70s, capturing the family’s Mediterranean lineage in his craftsmanship. His daughter Eugenia – who spent her childhood in the atelier in Valenza watching her father at work – has now taken the reins of her father’s eponymous business, continuing his legacy, albeit with a respectful new focus on femininity. Her focus, she says, is on wanting women to bloom and feel unique. The connection between women and nature inspires all of her collections, and her desire is to create jewels that have soul. She does it using sinuous leaves that create sensual floral patterns that appear to ‘come alive’ on those wearing them.

Along with striking, curvaceous sparkling necklaces, earrings and rings, there is also a new addition: an ear cuff, a sweet embrace that wraps around the ear with a rose gold moon, a flower and a petal embellished with white and champagne diamonds; as well as a ring designed to be worn on the little finger.

The Petit Garden

The Petit Garden jewels are as per their name: smaller, but created in the same vein. Inspired by the frangipani, pavé blue sapphires are embellished by a hint of black in the hand-applied gold, and warm pink sapphires represent one of Eugenia’s most treasured sights: a garden of elegant flamingos that can be glimpsed from the streets of central Milan in Italy.

A new flexi-choker represents a riviera of fine-coloured lights that flare into a single bloom, and is completed with a matching bracelet and earrings. A concealed heart-shaped detail at the core of the bracelets and choker not only ensures the jewels intertwine in flawless harmony, but also makes the clasp easy to open and close.

Another nod to the tropics, The Goddess Garden range takes its cues from the plumeria flower; rose and white gold illuminated by white and champagne diamonds. It has a modular structure, where every flower has its own unique mobility so that the jewel can perfectly accompany the body’s movement. The collection is completed by a bracelet that transforms into a choker, with a focus on allowing women to wear their jewellery exactly how they please. A nod to the powerful femininity in everything Eugenia touches. pasqualebruni.com 01

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