Finding his laboratory wasn\u2019t straightforward. He has no storefront and not even a sign \u2013 you\u2019d never guess his pieces have been sold all over the world from Harrods in London to American designers like Christian Dior and beyond. You have to know where to look and which buzzer to ring in a line up of other Florentine names on what looks to the unknowing observer like any other apartment building in Florence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Ditta-Carlo-Cecchi-di-Giuliano-Ricchi-Florence\"](\"https:\/\/www.romeing.it\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ditta-Carlo-Cecchi-di-Giuliano-Ricchi4.jpg\")
\u201cCome in, come in,\u201d crackles his voice over the intercom and I step into a large, cool hall, heading back to the courtyard, adorned with ferns and a few gardening tools. Through the windows, barred as so many around Florence are, I make out the shadowy interior of a workshop. Giuliano greets me at the doorway, beckoning me into his studio past a small sticker on the window proclaiming this the site of: Esercizi Storici Fiorentini (Historical Artisans of Florence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within seconds, I\u2019m holding gleaming gold bracelets, shining silver earrings, elegant picture frames, whimsical dishes, figurines, charms<\/strong> \u2013 a veritable trove of little treasures. I recognize some potpourri holders sold in a historical shop on the other side of Florence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot those ones,\u201d he says with a smile, \u201cthose are only for them, I don\u2019t sell them myself.\u201d Of course. The business cards with famous names I find taped to the side of the desk are a memory but not a crowning accomplishment. The studio unfolds like a labyrinth. After all, Giuliano has been here for decades. Most of his life. It does not reveal itslef like a carefully curated atelier but like the true workspace it is with spaces cleared in the center of tables where he elaborates his pieces, flanked by piles of golden shells, dolphins, thin handled spoons, rings with the Florentine fleur-de-lis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n He takes me downstairs and shows me how he fits a strip of brass over a mold before running it between two large rollers. In one side goes a bronze plate, out the other comes a strip embossed with leaves and flowers. \u201cAnd then?\u201d I ask. \u201cThen you make this into whatever you want,\u201d he says. \u201cCover it in gold. Cover it in silver. As you prefer.\u201d He\u2019s been doing this for 60 years, he can turn metal into whatever he dreams. This leafy strip could be molded around one of the many tools found throughout the studio to make a circular napkin holder, a paperweight, a picture frame. He might cut out pieces or engrave a further design, dip it or paint it in gold or silver or embellish it in colorful enamel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Back up the stairs, we talk about his craft, but he\u2019s unlike younger artisans who know how to weave together their story from first inspiration to training to apprenticeship to mastery to fame. He doesn\u2019t come from the generation of personal advertising and social media. \u201cI\u2019ve always done this,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is my life.\u201d In the 1960s he entered the studio of Carlo Cecchi to begin learning the craft and for years worked alongside other artisans in this shop. Sadly he adds, \u201cI\u2019m the only one left here now. There were some apprentices but they come for a short time only and I show them what I know.\u201d Just visiting for a few months to learn from a master before returning home. Like so many crafts in Florence, there is no longer the desire (or perhaps ability) to spend years learning a trade that you\u2019ll practice for a lifetime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The last thing he shows me aren\u2019t more pieces but the letters of thanks he\u2019s received from the apprentices who have come to learn from him, laminated and preserved, in far better condition than the business cards of famous brands. Artisans like Giuliano who live and breathes the pieces he molds in his machines and in his hands are becoming fewer and farther between as lifestyles change from one generation to the next. Each piece he creates is unique, not only because of the innate beauty of the item but for the skills of a lifetime it took to make it and the individual touch of the true artisan that formed it. As I step back out into the sunny piazza, I am comforted to know behind this unassuming fa\u00e7ade Giuliano continues to do his life\u2019s work: to imagine and craft beautiful, joyful treasures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Discover the world of Giuliano Ricchi, an artisan jeweler, who has created a wonderful reputation for himself and his business not only in Florence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft-matters-artisans-designers"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\u201cWithin seconds, he\u2019s showing me gleaming gold bracelets, shining silver earrings, elegant picture frames, whimsical dishes, figurines, charms \u2013 a veritable trove of little treasures.\u201d<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Ditta-Carlo-Cecchi-di-Giuliano-Ricchi-Florence\"](\"https:\/\/www.romeing.it\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/artisan-giuliano-ricchi-and-his-wife-maria.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen you make this into whatever you want,\u201d he says. \u201cCover it in gold. Cover it in silver. As you prefer.\u201d He\u2019s been doing this for 60 years, he can turn metal into whatever he dreams.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n