First CLASS

Education is the most powerful weapon, a noble pursuit that these three watches and jewellery brands have embarked on with different approaches.

- GORDON NG

The Buccellati Path at Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana, Milan

To say that a Buccellati jewel is unique is an understatement. Every piece the brand creates has been touched and enhanced by human hands, using techniques that date back to the Renaissance. Modes of engraving, carving and shaping textures like the macri, rigato, ornato and modellato finishes are incredibly plush, taking hours of manual work.

This culture of gold, handworked to beautiful perfection, is what gives the Milanese jeweller, and its late founder Mario Buccellati, the nickname ‘the prince of goldsmiths’. And in order to ensure the transmission and survival of these artisanal jewellery crafts, the brand has made steps in education. In March last year, it partnered with the Milan goldsmithing school Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana to create a master’s degree in goldsmith arts course.

Here, students are trained in four specialisations: goldsmithing, chiselling, engraving and microscope stone setting. Buccellati selects up to 12 candidates a year to participate in a special path, which offers students a scholarship and future employment at its ateliers. And it’s not just Buccellati itself. This educational path and its artisanal skill set includes some interested parties from the Richemont group that Buccellati is part of, including maisons like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget.

It’s a concerted effort by a jeweller that prides itself on unique craftsmanship that it’s keeping from extinction. And while this Buccellati Path partnership cements a more solid future for its craftsmanship, Buccellati and Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana have worked together before. Several years ago, the Milanese jeweller started offering input from its experienced artisans on a training course for engravers.