Renowned as one of the world’s most iconic jewelry brands, Roberto Coin has been creating extraordinary jewelry since the 1970s. Drawing inspiration from his hometown of Vicenza and his extensive world travels, Roberto Coin has redefined the art of jewelry making, seamlessly blending gold, diamonds and gemstones with groundbreaking concepts.
The 80-year-old Roberto Coin, whose warm smile, bright eyes and incredibly good nature could win anyone over, began designing jewelry in 1977. Nearly two decades later, in 1996, he established his own eponymous brand. Having a background in the hospitality industry, his approach has always been rooted in serving others, and it was his desire to create designs that celebrate the women of the world at every stage of their lives.
“I was a businessman who fell in love with jewelry, not a jeweler who wanted a business. There is a big distinction,” says Coin during a visit to the brand’s workshops in Vicenza — the gold capital of Italy.
“I set out to make something beautiful for every customer. Creativity equals freedom, and I am constantly challenging myself to do better, to be better.”
The collections that Roberto Coin creates reflect a remarkable diversity and run the gamut from attainable gold and gemstone designs for young women to one-of-a-kind masterpieces for connoisseurs. And, since its founding almost 30 years ago, the family-owned company has grown by leaps and bounds.
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The Atelier
From its early intricate Appassionata woven gold masterpieces to its modern Mosaic geometric series; Tiny Treasures diamond line; and Venetian Princess Collection (inspired by the architecture and culture of Venice), every piece designed by Roberto Coin exudes a mastery of the jewelry-making arts and exemplifies exceptional innovation. So diverse are the collections that they are equally at home on the red carpet, the big screens and at home.
Roberto Coin’s atelier, La Quinta Stagione (translated: The Fifth Season), in Vicenza, is a two-story facility (currently undergoing a huge renovation) that combines tradition with technology. Artisans work magic all with the goal of making the impossible possible.
A tour through the workshops is enlightening, revealing the seamless marriage of old-world craftsmanship and state-of-the-art techniques. While jewelry making here is predominantly a handmade feat, with workers’ benches lined up and dozens of people setting gemstones, polishing gold and more, there are also multimillion-dollar machines that bring necessary processes into the future. Gold is melted in proprietary ovens, 3D printing is employed for certain molds and advanced De Beers machines scan every diamond — even the thousands of tiny ones that go into melee settings — to ensure they are natural.
All of the gemstones used in Roberto Coin jewelry are sourced from around the world, and only from non-conflict countries. The most important stones are selected by Roberto Coin or his son Carlo, vice president of the brand, and then passed to the precious stones experts for evaluation. At least 15 people sort stones daily, according to size and color. And every diamond receives a Roberto Coin stamp lasered into it.
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A Handmade Feat
Quality control takes place at every manufacturing process and at intermittent points, beginning immediately after lost-wax casting of the molds and ensuing through polishing (even the inside of three-dimensional pieces are electro-polished to ensure shiny surfaces) to check for precision and porosity. From filing to assembly and setting, every worker is responsible for the quality of their own pieces and every piece is checked at each step. Once the pieces are finished, a factory quality control manager inspects them. The goods are then passed on to a separate, independent specialist whose quality control team rechecks everything and reports directly to Carlo Coin.
With a philosophy that the more challenging the design, the better, Roberto Coin has invented many exclusive and proprietary techniques in jewelry making, ranging from the creation of supple diamond-set gold bracelets and necklaces that feel like silk on the skin, to reimagined three-dimensional animals that evoke a sensual and mysterious appeal.
Says Roberto Coin, “If it is difficult, we like it. If it is impossible, we want to do it. It is not the question of if you can sell it, it’s the question of if you can make it.”
Because his drive is to constantly create something different, Roberto Coin launches about five complete collections annually. And each and every piece carries an embedded ruby on the skin side of the piece — Coin’s personal signature that underscores his passion for life and creativity.
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The Collection
Roberto Coin creates opening-price core lines (starting at $1,000), high-end jewelry (that retails from $50,000 to upwards of $100,000) and unique pieces. It can take three to four months to design a collection from idea to completion, with continuous review and refinement. Just this past year, he introduced bold extensions of his five-year-old Venetian Princess collection. Among them: the Carnevale and Pirouette.
Roberto Coin creates opening-price core lines (starting at $1,000), high-end jewelry (that retails from $50,000 to upwards of $100,000) and unique pieces. It can take three to four months to design a collection from idea to completion, with continuous review and refinement. Just this past year, he introduced bold extensions of his five-year-old Venetian Princess collection. Among them: the Carnevale and Pirouette.
Roberto Coin creates opening-price core lines (starting at $1,000), high-end jewelry (that retails from $50,000 to upwards of $100,000) and unique pieces. It can take three to four months to design a collection from idea to completion, with continuous review and refinement. Just this past year, he introduced bold extensions of his five-year-old Venetian Princess collection. Among them: the Carnevale and Pirouette.
The Pirouette features a geometric floral, inspired by the flowers atop the Doge’s Palace in Venice, with a center that reverses, offering diamonds on one side and colored inlays on the other.
The Carnevale line, inspired by the bold and colorful masquerades of Venice, features exquisite cabochon-cut gemstones in the center of the diamond-set flowers. This is one of the most sought-after new collections.
Is the collection Roberto Coin’s favorite? He says he doesn’t have one. “The best collection ever has not yet been made. While I love the pieces of the past, I always fall in love with the ones of the future.”
