Elisabetta
Comotto Italian Jewelry Designer One of Italy's Finest
Elisabetta
Comotto Italian Jewelry Designer One of Italy's Finest
For
Elisabetta Comotto, becoming a jewelry designer and we might add a really
magnificient one was not a career that she decided on, but instead that career
chose her. Her mother had a shop located on the outskirts of Genova (Genoa)
where she sold jewelry and her father was a salesman of watches.
She says, “I made my first decision to create jewelry when I was eight years old
and I was playing behind the counter of the store and my mom gave me toy beads
to make necklaces made of plastic!” (Elisabetta
Comotto smiles while she tells the story)
Comotto’s formal training was a combination of formal
education through the Isituto Statale d’arte Chiavari and England’s Gem A.
Elisabetta Comotto says, “At seventeen I started working
in the studio with Massimo Sasso, my mentor, while I was still attending school
to become a goldsmith. The street where my studio is located is called the
street of the Goldsmiths and it is in the center of Genova. There have been
goldsmiths here since the year 1700.”
Massimo Sasso had also studied under another of Italy’s
great goldsmiths, Pietro Sforza and in 1983 with his friend Giorgio Favali they
opened their own studio and workshop O Scagno di Fràveghi, which gained an
excellent reputation for the quality of their designs, work and finished
jewelry. Massimo Sasso decided to retire in 2011 when he turned 77 years old and
Elisabetta Comotto assumed ownership of the business and renamed it Comotto
Gioielli. The ancient craft of being both an artisan and a goldsmith has been
passed down through three generations of goldsmiths and now even though
Elisabetta Comotto has many years ahead of her still, she too is passing on that
precious knowledge and the techniques that she learned from Sasso who in turn
learned them from Sforza.
“There is a very capable person who works here with me,
Roberta and she is very good. I am teaching her about my work as Massimo did
with me when I was a kid,” says Elisabetta Comotto.
Comotto Gioielli offers two lines of jewelry one that is
unique and there is never a chance that you will walk down the street and see
someone else wearing the same ring or necklace as you and Comotto also has a
line of original designs that are replicated, so if you see one of those pieces
of jewelry on someone else there is a possibility of purchasing the same jewelry
from Comotto Gioielli.
Of the one of a kind jewelry, Comotto says, “The jewelry
is made according to the customer’s needs and it is important to listen to their
desires and translate them into reality in the form of the jewelry. The jewelry
is extravagant and original designs.
What gives me the most satisfaction is seeing how happy
my customers are with their new jewelry! I am very happy with my work and I
could not ask for anything better.
My
inspiration and it is reflected in my jewelry comes from nature,
the flowers,
the leaves and
the sea
at Portofino (an Italian village), because these are the things that I love the
most and they remain for the most part untouched. I love to watch the sea,
because I think it is spectacular!
Sometimes I take broken watches and turn them into jewelry like I did
with these unique
designs.”
In
collaboration with another artisan, Elisabetta Comotto created a line of
blown glass
jewelry
that consists of earrings and necklaces.
She explains, “This jewelry is meant to inspire
relaxation and at the moment when a woman is immersed in a bathtub full of soap
bubbles and plays with the glass balls, she feels beautiful. Some necklaces are
very delicate, because it is glass, but they are still wearable.”
Elisabetta Comotto talks about the creation of each ring, “Each ring takes on average six to seven hours to make and the first step is to create an ingot, but not like those of Scrooge McDuck (she says smiling). Ours are much longer and imprecise, like a stick. I then pull it in a mill and crearte a thread that is more precise in measurement, leaving enough space for creativity. I use pliers, hammers and shears to achieve the desired shape. If I am adding precious stones such as, diamonds, sapphires and emeralds then proceed with finishing and polishing them.”
The combination of Elisabetta Comotto’s innovative
jewelry designs, her hard work and her entreprenurial flair were some of the
reasons why in 2012 Comotto won an award for
premio miglior giovane imprenditore 2012
(Italy’s Best Young Entreprenur Award).
The year 2015 was an exciting time in the life of
Elisabetta Comotto, because she married Roberto Torielli on July 26th.
“It was a lot of fun planning our wedding, because we
are both creative people. I made four pairs of different wedding rings, because
we did not know know how to choose. In the end we decided to create simple rings
in white gold, with both rough and smooth and that reflects aspects of our
character.
I also made one hundred wedding favors to give to our
guests, a small key ring in the shape of a silver sunflower. My wedding dress
had a sunflower studded with precious stones.”
In December of 2015, Elisabetta Comotto over the
internet gave Riveting Riffs Magazine a personal tour of her workshop and
studio, Comotto Gioielli. Through the use of technology and her video camera we
took a step back in time and got to peek at where one of Italy’s finest artisans
and goldsmiths performs her magic.
Elisabetta Comotto is a very gracious young woman and
this writer owes her a great big thank you for making this interview possible,
because you see, your correspondent does not speak Italian and Ms. Comotto does
not speak English.
Let’s tell the people where they can find your jewelry
Elisabetta.
“Our jewelry can be purchased directly from
Comotto Gioielli or at our online shop or from the jewelers
who have decided to carry our brand.”
Please visit the website for
Comotto Gioielli and you can also follow Elisabetta and her
new designs at the
official Facebook page for Comotto Gioiella.