Ivana and Sebastiano are two young people from Apulia, happy and in love, looking for a Bespoke jewellery able to encapsulate their love.
In March 2019, after making an appointment by phone, they arrived in Altamura, at my goldsmith's workshop in Via Annibale Maria di Francia. That day, a fairy tale within a fairy tale began for them.
The Antonio Colonna method: when storytelling becomes design
Right from the initial contact I had sensed a certain distrust. Ivana in particular wasn't entirely convinced by my method: a creative process that starts from a personal story and leads to the creation of a one-off piece of jewellery.
I remember that, with a smile on his face, he asked me a very direct question:
Why should we tell a story about our romance? What has that got to do with creating a piece of jewellery?
I explained to her that my work never starts from form alone. It starts from what a person wishes to cherish. My clients and I are involved in a journey that begins in the heart, passes through the mind, and finally arrives at the hands, where the piece of jewellery takes shape.
Into a narrative jewel can go words, memories, images, passages of life. This is the most precious material: personal memory, unique and unrepeatable.
For the more private couples I also use a creative method I call Inspirational Game. It helps symbols and images to emerge without forcing anyone to share overly intimate details.
Exclusivity, in this sense, does not stem from a signature or a decoration. It stems from a story. From fragments of life, embraces, falls, rebirths, desires and moments that belong solely to that couple.
That day, however, I wasn't certain I had overcome Ivana and Sebastiano's doubts. They said goodbye to me with a polite phrase, the kind often used when you don't know if you'll actually see each other again: “We'll be in touch.”.
The surprise of Ivana and Sebastiano
Just over two weeks after our first meeting, Ivana and Sebastiano returned to me with a different awareness.
We encountered various proposals, but they all amounted to an industrial piece of jewellery, customised at most with a phrase, a date or our initials. That is not what we need. We believe that every love is unique and, if we truly want a piece of jewellery that seals our story, we cannot settle for mass production. It is exclusivity that we want.
At that moment I realised they were looking for exactly a Narrative Jewellery.
They began to tell me their story. When Ivana met Sebastiano, she was going through a difficult time. She had left behind her studies, city, certainties and a wrong love. She had returned to her homeland wounded, tired, with the feeling of having to start over.
Then, during a mutual friend's birthday, she met Sebastiano. That young man would become a rebirth for her: a sincere love, a support during difficult times, a presence capable of accompanying her towards new milestones, including her graduation and the judiciary exam.
The Tale of the Grain of Wheat
That story struck me deeply. I chose not to recount every detail, because some stories deserve respect and silence. But from that story a fairy tale was born, and from that fairy tale the jewel took shape Wheat grains.
Once upon a time there was a grain of corn.
While he was being carried in a large canvas sack along with his brothers, he slipped out of a small hole and fell onto a dusty road, amongst the stones.
A black creature, with long glossy feathers on its wings, picked it up to take it to its lair, in the tallest tree in the field. But during the flight the grain managed to escape, falling into the brown earth.
The earth welcomed him, giving him refuge and warmth. At first the seed was afraid. He felt alone, far from his brothers, lost in a place he did not know.
Then something changed. From its most hidden part, small roots began to sprout. Those roots went down into the earth, searching for nourishment, life, and depth.
A sudden breath swelled his body, shattering his armour. The grain began to grow. From the darkness of the earth sprang a stalk, then leaves, then an ear heavy with other grains.
Then she realised that without the fall, without loss, without fear, she would never have discovered the strength of the earth. She would not have known that growing up means passing through pain and dread, but also love, desire and rebirth.
An exclusive piece of jewellery and tears of joy
In that story, Ivana was the grain of wheat. A seed that had escaped a difficult destiny, yet was capable of being reborn thanks to love, her own strength and the presence of Sebastiano.
I still remember the moment the piece of jewellery was handed over for her tears of happiness and those simple words, repeated several times: “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”.
In the end, though, it was I who thanked them. Because through my work that is precisely what I look for: real emotions, authentic stories, jewels capable of holding something that cannot be mass-produced.
A bespoke piece of jewellery is not merely a precious object. It can become the symbol of a rebirth, a love, a promise or a part of one's life that deserves to be remembered.
Anyone wishing to begin a similar journey can find out more on the page dedicated to engagement jewellery or the one dedicated to how they are born jewellery..
The first meeting is intended to clarify the direction, timetable and feasibility. It does not require an immediate decision.