1740 Contardo Buccellati opens the first fine jewellery and goldsmith workshop in Milan. 1891 Mario Buccellati is born in Anaconda. 1896 Mario’s father dies and his mother moves the family to Tromello, close to their grandparents. Shortly afterwards it was decided that this small village held no future for the small Buccellati children and so they moved to Milan. 1903 Mario began his career as an errand-boy to the goldsmiths Beltrami e Besnati of Milan; one of the greatest European goldsmiths and a connoisseur of precious stones. 1915 The firm began to falter in the poor economic climate but the young and very talented Buccelatti breathed a new vitality into the business. He had gone from errand-boy to owner. 1919 Mario Buccellati opened his own shop in the centre of the city, on Largo Santa Margherita and began supplying the Milanese high society. Diadems and evening bags were especially popular at the time. Buccellati used a variety of silks and velvet to create his bags with pearls and diamonds as embellishments. 1924 Buccellati opened the Rome boutique on the Via Condotti. 1930 A boutique was opened in Florence, on the Via Tornabuoni. During the war, gold was very scarce and Buccellati had to be resourceful to stay in business. One of the materials he used was copper with ‘Dutch gold’ on top. Using this he was able to continue to produce jewellery and compacts. He also used chipped or broken stones which were still readily available during the war. Mounted upside down, these stones looked like cabochon-cut stones and were very popular. 1945 Buccellati scoured Italy in search for the best craftsmen to join his firm. 1951 With the help of his son Lucas Buccellati, Mario sees to the opening of a shop in New York, on 51st Street. This small shop soon becomes a fashionable shopping space for New York’s post-war socialites. Buccellati’s most innovative creations were his rings. He made an infinite variety being playful with his stones, colours and engravings. 1954 A boutique opens on New York’s 5th Avenue and Lorenzo Buccellati is named as Italian consulate to Panama, fulfilling his wider civic duty. 1965 Mario Buccellati dies in Milan and his son Lorenzo takes over. 1966 Gianmaria Buccellati takes over the management of the Buccellati firm’s workshops at just 19. 1968 Buccellati make a suit of jewellery for the actress Candice Bergen to wear in her new film The Adventurers. This receives worldwide media attention and is published on the front cover of Vogue. Gianmaria separates his two brothers Frederico and Lorenzo from the business, because of their contradicting view on overseas expansion. 1970 the Hong Kong Buccellati shop is opened within Lane Crawford. Maria Callas is an important client. Inside Buccellati’s boutique, she finds the privacy she craves and spends a long time trying on several of Buccellati’s creations. 1971 Gianmaria opens a shop in the jet-set resort of the ‘Costa Smeralda’ in a Sardinian hotel. 1972 Buccellati jewellery, after a contract agreement with WAKO stores, is launched in the Middle East. 1973 Gianmaria Buccellati, with other Italian jewellers, forms the ‘Italian Gemmology Institute’, of which he remains president to this day. 1977 Claudia Buccellati joins the family firm 1979 Buccellati opens a shop on the Place Vendome, Paris, forming a strong association with the most well known names in fine jewellery. Buccellati receives the title ‘Knight of the Great Cross and the National Order of Merit’ from the Italian president. Buccellati opens a shop in Beverly Hills, inside the Beverly Wiltshire Hotel. 1991 – 1994 Buccellati commissioned to design and produce a golden baton awarded to Riccardo Muti for services to La Scala. Buccellati had a very close and enduring relationship with the opera and its performers. 1999 Buccellati creates a ‘Millennium Set’ which included a honey-combed gold necklace and pair of earrings, set with 65 carats of diamonds. It takes the firm 2 years to complete. 2000 An exhibition in Gianmaria’s name is held at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, and subsequently travels around the United States of America. Buccellati created jewels for such notables as the Popes Pius XI and XII, as well as the royal families of Italy, Spain and Egypt. Their objects can be identified by their distinct “texture-engraved” style and the hallmark “15 MI”, which is one of the oldest in Milan. Buccellati are famous for individuality and proudly state that whether or not people may like their creations, they can always be recognised at first glance, due to their easily recognisable style.
