Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
A love of tradition set Mario Buccellati and his fine jewelry house apart in the competitive Italian market and remains a point of pride for the family.
In 1919, Mario launched Buccellati with the opening of his first shop in Milan and quickly built a reputation for his richly embellished traforato, or finely pierced goldwork. The Ancona, Italy–born jeweler’s workmanship was in a class of its own. His rings, earrings, bracelets and other accessories were exquisite, yet the gemstones themselves were never too flashy, elevated instead by the designs’ intricate metalsmithing.
Today the Buccellati family is still closely tied to the business even as it is now owned by Richemont, a luxury conglomerate that also counts Cartier and Van Cleef Arpels among its subsidiaries.
A young Mario Buccellati apprenticed with famed goldsmith Beltrami e Besnati in the early 1900s, although many of the goldsmithing techniques synonymous with Buccellati go as far back as the Italian Renaissance. The family lineage is also said to include 18th-century jeweler Contardo Buccellati.
Owing to the founder’s advanced metalworking skills, the brand is known for designs that feature metal with the delicacy of lace and draw on the wonders of the natural world. The house’s work is typified by intricate gemstone settings that emphasize their natural color and dense engraving techniques that transform the texture of gold.
One of the time-honored engraving techniques that has come to characterize Buccellati’s work — techniques that require apprenticeships and training in the fine jeweler’s workshops — is called rigato. It involves the engraving of a precious metal with a series of parallel lines to achieve a fabric-like effect.
Rigato is on luminous display in the house’s Macri collection of earrings, cuff bracelets and other accessories. A painstaking attention to detail is pronounced in the celebrated Macri, Bartolomeo and Unica collections — witness the striking honeycomb motif, a house signature, that characterizes the Unica collection’s Caterina bracelet, for example.
The Macri collection was the work of Mario’s son, Gianmaria Buccellati, an award-winning jeweler and internationally renowned silversmith who worked to bring the brand to the global stage by overseeing the opening of boutiques in Tokyo, Paris, California and elsewhere.
In 1951, Mario opened his first store in New York City; today the company operates boutiques worldwide. In 2019, the company celebrated its centennial with a new flagship in Paris and the Vintage collection, which features some of its most enduring designs.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of authentic Mario Buccellati jewelry today.
20th Century Italian Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Silver, Sterling Silver
1950s Japanese Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1930s Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1910s American Classical Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Dutch Art Deco Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1920s American Rococo Revival Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1860s English Antique Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century French Neoclassical Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Danish Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1970s British Georgian Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1930s English Art Deco Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century North American Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1860s British Victorian Antique Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Silver, Sterling Silver
1960s Italian Vintage Mario Buccellati Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
