Attombri: timeless jewellery, between fashion, design and applied arts

Attombri is a craft workshop in Venice, where glass, combined with other materials such as copper and silver, becomes costume jewellery and furnishing items.
Since the late 1980s, brothers Stefano and Daniele Attombri have been interpreting the history, techniques and potential of this material in a contemporary way, creating accessories and elements that combine fashion, interior design and applied arts.
They make lamps, decorative and functional objects, but above all extraordinary jewellery: their pieces are all unique and handcrafted, they are whimsical and timeless objets d’art that continue the tradition of Venetian “perlere” (bead makers), combined with techniques of their own invention with Art Nouveau influences.
Their works have been published and exhibited all over the world, from Europe to the United States and Japan. They have won the “New Talent 2006” award of “More”, the Milan jewellery fair. They have collaborated with prestigious companies such as Dolce & Gabbana, Romeo Gigli and Pauly.

What is your story and how did you approach the world of glass?
My brother and I started our business more than 37 years ago in Venice, which was completely different from what it is today.
We were so lucky to join the “Veneziana Conterie” factory in Murano in the early 1990s, just when it was closing down forever. We saw a world that would disappear with the closure of the company, and we realised that our work had to be focused on carrying on that tradition. So we started to buy those beads, to enhance them with a more contemporary design.

How important was the link with the territory and the island of Venice?
Venice and Murano are the life force of our work: surely our story would have been completely different if we had started in another city.
The energy and inspiration we found here cannot be compared with any other place, it is unique and will remain so even with the changes that have transformed and will transform the city over time.

What processing techniques do you mainly use?
We started our work from scratch, we knew nothing. But we always believed in it and, strong in our youth, we worked day and night on our work, inventing our own techniques, which combined metal and glassworking, something that was new in Venice at the time.

Have you ever collaborated with designers, crafters, or other professionals? For what kind of projects?
We have carried out many collaborations over the years. In the early 1990s we created sculpture-jewellery for famous Italian fashion designers, such as Romeo Gigli and Dolce & Gabbana. We have created jewellery for Antonella Ruggero, both for her concerts and for her participation in San Remo. We have also been carrying on a historical collaboration for years with the master Lucio Bubacco, with whom we have created jewellery-sculptures and real sculptures in glass and metal.

Is there any style, work or author you are inspired by or that you particularly appreciate?
Our creations come from occasional inspirations, which may come to us during our travels around the world, or from people we know. Everything is left to chance, we have never liked to take inspiration from other artists.

How important is the design phase in your work?
Actually, as we said about inspiration, we don’t have a structured designing phase. This makes our work unique, and perhaps it is also our strength, because there are still many people who feel unique and are looking for something unique: these are our customers.

“Homo Faber”, an important event dedicated to high craftsmanship to be held from the 1st to the 30th of September on the Island of San Giorgio, is approaching. Fondazione Cologni will curate “In Città”, a collateral initiative that will open the doors of Venice’s workshops to the public. Will you be organising anything special for this occasion?
Homo Faber is a wonderful event that allows a large number of people to get to know high craftsmanship.
We will not organise special events, but we will continue with our daily work: all those who want to come to our atelier in Rialto will be welcome. They will be able to see our creations and discover our world, accompanied by our explanations of techniques and processes. It will be an opportunity to get to know us better and to see how one of our artefacts is made.

Attombri
San Polo, 65 – Venice
Ph. +39 041 5212524
attombri@yahoo.it
www.attombri.com