A Point of Departure
- The exhibition at Piano Nobile in Milan charts one hundred years of BUCCELLATI’s spherical “Bugnato” decorative motif across silver and jewellery.
- Mario Buccellati introduced the sphere motif in the early 1920s, drawing directly from the rusticated stone facades of Renaissance palazzos in Florence.
- In silverwork, the raised spherical effect is produced by chiselling the metal from the inside out, a demanding manual process that defines the house’s technical approach.
- Cabochon emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are used in the jewellery pieces to replicate the same rounded, three-dimensional quality achieved in silver.
- Lucrezia Buccellati guides viewers through the exhibition, connecting historic objects such as silver vases to contemporary expressions including a cuff bracelet.
A Milestone at Piano Nobile
Marking a full century of continuous creative development is a considerable undertaking for any house, and BUCCELLATI has chosen Milan’s Piano Nobile as the setting for an exhibition devoted entirely to the Bugnato sphere motif. The occasion brings together historic silver objects and current jewellery pieces under one roof, allowing the visual thread between them to become unmistakeable. For a Milanese maison with roots reaching back to the post-First World War period, this kind of retrospective exhibition carries particular weight.
The Bugnato motif, characterised by its pattern of raised spherical forms across a metal surface, has been part of BUCCELLATI’s visual grammar since founder Mario Buccellati introduced it in the early 1920s. His source material was architectural rather than decorative: the rugged, bosséd stonework of Florentine Renaissance palazzos, which creates a surface of protruding rounded blocks across an otherwise flat facade. Translating that monumental texture into precious metal and gemstones was, from the outset, the central challenge and distinction of the motif.
The choice of Piano Nobile as the venue also signals something deliberate about audience. The location sits within Milan’s orbit of cultural institutions and luxury addresses, positioning the exhibition as both a public-facing event and a statement of creative continuity for collectors and clients. The official campaign film and the full exhibition context can be explored on the BUCCELLATI website.
Mario Buccellati and the Renaissance Source
When Mario Buccellati looked to the facades of Florentine palazzos in the 1920s, he was engaging with one of the most architecturally distinctive periods in Italian history. Buildings such as the Palazzo Pitti and the Palazzo Strozzi feature an exterior treatment known as rustication, where large, roughly textured stone blocks with rounded or chiselled faces project from the wall plane. The resulting play of light and shadow across those protruding surfaces was precisely what Mario sought to reproduce at a miniature, wearable scale.
The technique he settled on for silverwork involved chiselling the metal from the inside out, pushing the surface outward to create each sphere rather than carving the metal away from the exterior. This approach preserves the integrity of the metal’s thickness while generating a naturally organic variation across the surface, since no two hand-chiselled spheres are precisely identical. The effect on a silver vase, as seen in the exhibition pieces, closely mirrors the visual rhythm of the palazzo facades that inspired it.
The Jewellery Adaptation
Applying the same aesthetic logic to jewellery required a different material solution. Where silver could be physically deformed outward through chiselling, precious jewellery called for a distinct approach. BUCCELLATI resolved this by setting cabochon-cut stones including emeralds, sapphires, and rubies in positions that replicate the raised, rounded profile of the chiselled silver sphere. Cabochon cutting, which produces a smooth domed surface rather than facets, is the key to making a gemstone carry that same three-dimensional, bosséd quality within a bracelet or necklace.
The cuff bracelet presented in the exhibition demonstrates this translation clearly. Viewed alongside a historic silver vase from the same family of objects, the visual relationship between the two is immediate. The materials differ entirely, but the underlying surface geometry follows the same logic that Mario established over a century ago. For collectors in the Gulf, where high-jewellery set with coloured precious stones consistently commands strong market interest, this particular formal tradition has an obvious resonance.
Lucrezia Buccellati and the Living Narrative
The exhibition at Piano Nobile is guided by Lucrezia Buccellati, whose presence at the event connects the family lineage directly to the objects on display. Rather than presenting the Bugnato motif as a fixed historical artefact, her involvement frames it as a living element of the house’s ongoing work. Moving from the silver vases to the jewellery pieces, she traces the formal continuity that links Mario’s original 1920s vision to the current collection.
This kind of generational continuity within an Italian fine jewellery house is increasingly rare in the broader luxury sector, where ownership changes and brand repositioning often sever the connection between founding vision and current output. At BUCCELLATI, the sphere motif’s presence across both silver and jewellery provides a tangible through-line. For collectors who follow major exhibition programmes, whether at Watches and Wonders or within dedicated house events, exhibitions of this kind offer a grounded way to understand a brand’s technical and aesthetic priorities beyond the retail environment.
Why It Matters
Across the GCC, collectors who engage with Italian high jewellery will find the Bugnato exhibition significant precisely because it places technique at the centre of the narrative, not just aesthetic outcome. The chiselling-from-inside method and the cabochon stone adaptation are verifiable processes that distinguish BUCCELLATI’s sphere pieces from surface-applied decoration. For the Gulf market, where discernment around fine jewellery craftsmanship is well established, that technical specificity is the most compelling aspect of this centenary celebration.
Stay ahead of the latest releases. Subscribe to our newsletter for editor-curated coverage of luxury timepieces and jewellery across the GCC.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Bugnato motif and when was it first introduced by BUCCELLATI?
The Bugnato motif is a spherical decorative technique introduced by Mario Buccellati in the early 1920s. It was inspired by the rusticated stone facades of Renaissance palazzos in Florence, and has since appeared across both BUCCELLATI's silver and jewellery collections.
How is the sphere motif created in BUCCELLATI's silverwork and jewellery?
In silverwork, the spherical effect is achieved by chiselling the metal from the inside out. In jewellery pieces, precious cabochon stones such as emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are used to create the same three-dimensional, rounded effect.
Where is the BUCCELLATI Essence of Spheres exhibition being held?
The exhibition is held at Piano Nobile in Milan, where BUCCELLATI is presenting a century-long evolution of the Bugnato motif across historic and contemporary pieces, including silver vases and a cuff bracelet.
