In Recanati the timeless jewels of the Crucible

It may happen that Dubai calls Recanati to order sheaths for swords set with precious stones, or chairs with gold bolts. Sick wishes that the Jewellery Shop il Crogiolo - founded in 1979 in the town of 'The Fabulous Young Man' - is able to realise. The 'golden hands' of the 13 employees and owners, however, do not only fulfil the whims of Middle Eastern royalty, but above all bring to life the desires of those who dream of unique custom-made jewellery. Whether they are accessories for haute couture shows or a special gift, the jewellery that comes out of the workshop in the old village are uniquely designed works of art. On the walls of the boutique, close to Palazzo Leopardi, the most prestigious certifications for goldsmiths, starting with those issued by the International Gemological Institute, tell the story of a long journey.

In 1981 the three owners, Fiorella Alessandrini, Gino Staffolani and Sandro Casagrande, then little more than teenagers, after working with the goldsmith Ottaviani, also in Recanati, took the plunge and set up their own business. Their first studio was a small attic where they brought everything they needed to grow: skill, passion and creativity. There, with handmade, lost-wax work, Crogiolo 1.0 was born. To Crogiolo 4.0 the new generation contributes a great deal, namely Francesco and Paolo Stortoni and Alice Staffolani: "As a new generation we look to speed, experimentation and new technologies that shorten time and open up endless possibilities. Our parents focus on experience, they believe in the value of slow time, thanks to which every detail is created by hand. Our workshop is a synthesis of these different philosophies. Tradition takes the soul of jewellery and innovation accelerates its creation. We, too, of Generation Z, are convinced that technology does not replace craftsmanship, but springs from its knowledge and enhances it'. In the historic workshop, where there has only been a generational change among the 13 employees, laser and 3D coexist with the charm of tradition. The result is jewellery of timeless beauty.

Craftsmen that the Leopardi family has been referring to for four generations, and not only for reasons of proximity between the workshop and Giacomo's 'paternal hostel', the beautiful palazzo Leopardi in which the family lives. "Fiorella managed to give shape to jewellery that I thought was destined to remain only in my imagination," says countess Olimpia Leopardi. "The Crogiolo was the workshop where she took the old family jewellery, to restore it to its original splendour, even my grandmother Anna. The same went for my father Vanni, who would deliver some of his beloved collectors' items into the skilled hands of the craftsmen. All the way to the gifts of my three children who, as children, relied on Fiorella's attentive and affectionate suggestions', she concludes.