Giovanna Bittante is an Italian jewelry designer who went to Spain. She did not find just love, but also her path that led her to new ideas about how jewelry should look like. Meet Giovanna and learn about her unusual jewelry and how she loves to challenge your ideas about jewels. Her own most precious jewel? Easy! Her son!

Giovanna and I keep regularly in touch, thanks to the magic of Facebook, where we found each other again after many years. Although we did not meet that many times in real life, we started to exchange mails and keep up to date through social media. We both have a son of a similar age, and we bonded even more when talking about the challenges and joys of motherhood. But it is, and always has been, jewelry playing a huge role in our lives. I remember her more traditional jewelry designs which were truly awesome, I mean, she really is a great designer and I admire the relentless search for her own signature style. It’s the same urge painters and other artists feel, to create that ultimate piece that reflects all they have in their minds and hearts.

 

I asked Giovanna these questions:

Who is Giovanna:

An Italian woman, enthusiastic and despite her Italian heart, she took her things and went to discover other shores in the pursuit of her future.

Tell us about your early years:

I was born in the province of Venice and grew up in Vicenza, surrounded by art and nature. My love for drawing and designing all things that I imagined, brought me to study fashion design and I specialized in jewelry. Vicenza is considered to be one of the top cities in the world of jewelry production, it was just a natural choice. After a few years in the business, I got restless and wanted to do something else, so I went to Spain, a country I loved since I was a little girl, in order to find work, a new career.

And in this very different country, I started to develop a project, something that initially started out as an artistic hobby. However, I got more serious and more passionate about it and during my research period, I noticed how this new path helped me also finding fresh ideas for other companies I worked with.

Your jewelry is very different: 

It all started with terracotta, I mixed this with other materials such as drops of silver, glass or enamel. A little like the Italian game: Piccolo Chimico (little chemical) to see what kind of effects the fusion of materials would create.

In all this, it was the passion and the love for experimenting with materials that pushed me to dig further and I started to use paper, to transform texture with special effects, a little like stones or minerals. After a while I started to get even more curious and worked with plastic, fabrics and acetate, always combined with silver, natural gemstones like agatha, onyx and various types of quartz.

I started to get more exposure, through catwalks of young designers and art and jewelry fairs for the public. I also got invited by the Government of Aragón ( Spain) and exposed on fairs in Zaragosa for example. I was very proud to be cited by Anna Milan, in her thesis at the University of Cá Foscari Venice in 2013.  

What is your personal view on jewelry?

You know, it’s not that I don’t appreciate other designers or their work for that matter, they often are truly pieces of art, but see: I would like to be that little grain of sand. With my ideas about developing jewelry; jewelry that is different, original, appreciated for its volume and most of all, for the materials I transform into jewelry. Materials that get a new life and purpose, with the use of both technology and craftsmanship.

I think that jewelry isn’t just about gold and silver and precious stones. Jewelry is something that makes you feel unique, special, exclusive. Unfortunately, I am aware that we are still far from accepting this idea about jewelry and that most people still think of jewelry only in the classical sense. I think that today, thanks to technology and the will to value the art of *hand made*, maybe the two different concepts about jewelry will merge ever more.

I think that jewelry needs to transmit a very special emotion, first of all to you and then to others, but the most important thing is that it becomes something that belongs to the body. It shouldn’t just be an accessory that compliments an outfit, but truly and extension of the body. It needs to adapt to our movements, it needs to be light and easy to wear every single day in every occasion.

I think its my collection INTRECCI (interweave) that is the perfect example for what I mean. This collection was created in acetate and silver. I won a prize with this collection at the Gioiellodentro (Jewelry inside) competition in Venice.

''The most beautiful jewel is the one that is part of your emotions, your joys and stays in tune with your body''

Who is the client ? 

I think of my clients as people who are very elegant, with a rich life of events and special encounters. They see jewelry as a wearable work of art, always looking out for that something different and unique. I don’t think just about famous people of course, but I admit: I felt very honored when a Adriana Abenia, a Spanish model-tv presenter, wore my necklace with plastic caps in tv!

What is something, apart from jewelry, that we should know about you:

Where can I find your jewelry?

My collections are for sale on my own website, but customers pointed out to me that I should also find other points of sale. This is my new challenge: finding stores and new customers that fall in love with my jewelry!  It’s not easy, like I said before, as my jewelry is different and outside the box if you like, of what we are used to see. These are collections that could work in a gallery, concept store or in some fashion stores that match that same description: outside the box. All my jewelry pieces have accessible prices.

 

''My view on life? Live day by day, remembering the past without getting attached to your memories and look at the future,  as the path that you want to go, but never forget that you live today!''

Giovanna on our relationship: 

Check out Giovanna's website and online shop here: http://www.giovannabittante.com/