VENETIAN JEWELLERY DESIGNERS and CRAFTSMEN

photograph courtesy Antonia Miletto

Venezia. Bi-continental jewelry designer, Antonia Miletto, in my mind, has the best of both worlds. She lives between Venice and a loft in New York City. Antonia is the leading jewelry designer in prized woods, which she combines with gold and precious and semi precious stones. “All woods are beautiful” she says. In, The wood Collection, which is made by specialized craftsmen in Milan, she favors; Purple Heart wood, which was used by the American Indians to make arrows, High Ironwood, because it’s very heavy, Canadian Maple because of it’s beautiful trans-lucid white color and Ebony, because black is always beautiful to wear. At the beginning of May she is opening her first shop in Venice on the Salizada Malipiero near Palazzo Grassi and in New York you can find her beautiful pieces at Demner on Madison Avenue and 64^th Street or at the numerous trunk shows she attends around the United States. I love this simple ebony and gold chain necklace and agree totally with Antonia “My jewelry can be worn all day, they are classic with something new.”

photograph courtesy Antonia Miletto

Note: the encased diamonds and gold in these black and white resin cuffs. Antonia was one of the first to use crystal metacrylic plastic resin, which can be tinted in many colors.