By Sarah O'Brien, International Business Development Director for Phillips Jewels
Fabio Salini most recently showcased 100 of his jewels at Masterpiece in London. The strongest selection for the fair were his pieces setting precious gems in carbon fiber. In fact, the pairing of fine stones with materials not commonly associated with jewelry is a key feature of Salini's work. In the past, he has mixed diamonds with leather and shagreen and, in his 2013 collaboration with the Design world's famed Campana Brothers, paired Brazilian bamboo and straw with gold and brown diamonds to form a collection of eight one-of-a-kind pieces. He notes the freedom that he and his fellow independent designers have to experiment and push boundaries. Salini does not speak of collections, rather he calls them moods—"every single material I work with evokes a different mood," and there is poetry in melding these thoughts and feelings with the design process.
Fans of his work will soon have a new space to explore these 'moods' when Salini opens his new atelier in London this October. I asked him about the journey that has brought him to this point.
Every single material I work with evokes a different mood.
Salini grew up in Rome, which is still home for him and the craftsmen he works with today. Family pressure led to him studying geology—before his first choice of gemology—and to an eight-year stint in the family construction company. However, between this job and his studies, he undertook a series of internships at Cartier and worked at Bulgari. He is intensely grateful to both jewelry houses and credits them for teaching him "everything."
Salini's passion and talent as a jewelry designer won out. As a hobby, he had created his own designs for friends and family; in 2009, Roman jeweler Petochi approached him to showcase some of these pieces. The jewel featured on the cover of exhibition catalogue was bought by Queen Rania of Jordan. Salini said to himself, "listen, if this is the result of the hobby, let's turn it into a job."
The respect and gratitude Salini has for each experience in his life—however difficult it was—is a notable (and charming) quality of his. Trying to solder gold to bamboo and straw for his collaboration with the Campana Brothers initially saw his hours of hard work go up in flames. It took weeks of trial and error to achieve the layering and shaping of carbon fiber to produce the jewels he envisioned. The results of this labor can be seen in the ingenious craftsmanship and silk-like quality of the 'Fibbia' bracelet made from carbon fiber, peridot, diamond and gold. The name Fibbia translates to 'buckle'; it is hard to believe you can't just slide the carbon fiber 'fabric' back through the periodot clasp.
The lightweight nature of carbon fiber has enabled Salini also to experiment with earrings of a size that would prove unwearable made from something heavier. This freedom of scale allows the earrings to become sculptural, playing with positive and negative space to reveal two 'faces'. Front-on, the earrings appear to be narrow amethyst-set hoops holding a central cabochon stone, but side-on, it's a PAC-MAN greedily consuming a purple candy. Salini enjoys drawing on playful memories from childhood.
Does he have a favorite jewel? Salini is aghast at the idea: "If you have kids, could you answer which is your favorite? No!" He says he is particularly happy if the finished jewel is as close a representation as possible to the image he had in his mind at the beginning of the creative process, but he goes on to say "I even love the jewels I am not really satisfied with because, through them, through the mistakes, I learn. All of them are important."
See Fabio Salini's work for yourself at his London showroom opening at Studio 5, Sydney Close, SW3 6HW on 29 October 2018. Contact +44 (0)207 584 4639 for further inquiries.