A Small Renaissance

Le Jeux Du Contraire micromosaic earrings, necklace and ring in white gold and diamonds, all Sicis Jewels

Ahead of a Club event at Sicis Jewels in November, we find out more about the fascinating history of micromosaic and how this small but perfectly formed art is enjoying a colourful comeback.

Words by Maria Doulton

FROM A HAND-BUILT Aston Martin Valkyrie to an evening gown stitched in a Parisian couture atelier, there is an enduring love for objects where the value lies not solely in the materials but also in the artistic input of highly skilled artisans. In the inevitable march forward of mass luxury, a micromosaic jewel honours the old-world standards of quality, with a contemporary twist.

In this unusual but increasingly appreciated genre of jewellery, the star is not a gemstone but a miniature ‘painting’ made up of thousands of speck-sized coloured glass tiles; a brilliantly hued green and violet quetzal bird choker, a menacing skull pinkie ring or a cartoon-like tiger pendant. At an Evening with Sicis Jewels: Masters of Micromosaic in November, we will be discussing how this rare art was almost lost forever, were it not for a handful of pioneering jewellers nurturing its revival.

Micromosaics are an evolution of the Ancient Roman technique that involved placing together thousands of marble and stone tiles to create opulent and highly detailed scenes. Their vibrant colours are the best-preserved examples of Roman art and so mosaics are often referred to as ‘eternal paintings’. The word mosaic derives from the medieval Latin musaicus, as early mosaics were often dedicated to the muses.

Micromosaics first appeared in the 18th century, when large-scale mosaics fell out of fashion. The artisans – who were mainly employed in Rome’s religious buildings – supplemented their dwindling income by creating miniaturised versions of their mosaics to sell to private customers; imagine a richly adorned floor mosaic from Pompeii shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp. These portable works of art caught the magpie eyes of aristocratic young men on their Grand Tour around Italy, making

them the quintessential souvenir. The artist Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) is considered one of the main exponents of this era and cleverly incorporated them not only into table tops and objects but also into jewels. One of his most famous works is the Doves of Pliny (on display at the British Museum in London) which features the Capitoline Doves from a floor mosaic discovered in 1737 at Hadrian’s villa near Rome.

By the beginning of the 1900s, our love of micromosaics had faded and all but disappeared as the seductively sleek lines of Art Deco swept through the world. But, fortunately, the late Sir Arthur Gilbert compiled one of the largest collections of micromosaic objects in the world. He donated his collection to the nation in 1996 and key pieces are displayed at the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, offering us a glimpse into the dazzling past of this art.

The base ingredients for glass mosaic,

Micromosaics caught the magpie eyes of aristocratic young men on their Grand Tour around Italy.

The Narcissus ring (left) and the Medusa ring, featuring micromosaics by Roberto Grieco for Alessio Boschi

whether to cover the walls of a palace or to adorn a bracelet, are identical. Silica or sand is blasted at 1,400 degrees in furnaces to create glass that is coloured by adding different minerals. The Italian company Sicis, which makes tiles both large and small, has patented a process for adding ground minerals such as diamonds, rubellite, jade, peridot, sapphires and even gold to enhance the vivacious colours.

For micromosaics, the tiles are made molten again and hand-pulled into slender glass rods from which the tiles are filed. Thousands of these glass tiles are picked up one by one, with tweezers, and applied to a paste then tamped down into a frame. The specific tones and textures of the tiles are created to exactly match the design and, like an artist’s palette, the tiles can be made in an almost infinite number of colours, translucent, opaque or opalescent, textured or smooth.

At the vanguard of this revival is Sicis Jewels, an off-shoot of Sicis which is famed for its glorious large-scale mosaics used in luxury interior design. Gioia Placuzzi, as Creative Director, has brought an exciting modern style to mosaic jewellery, with a bold use of colour in creations that marry intricate details with luscious gemstones.

Geneva-based Vamgard is another name that stands out in this revival. The company brings together ancient techniques with cutting-edge materials, including titanium and carbon fibre, creating masterpieces of such intricacy that it is difficult to tell they are micromosaics at all.

Others experimenting with gemstone micromosaics include Istanbul jeweller Sevan Biçakçi who has created a series of jewels; the Solemn Shield ring features an intricate micromosaic of the reddish gemstone thulite and diamonds. Alessio Boschi, the Romanborn jeweller based in Bangkok, brings beautiful classical references to his jewels; the detail of the Narcissus and Medusa rings was realised by Roberto Grieco, an artist who worked for years as a master of micromosaic at the Vatican.

And, as if any more affirmation were needed that micromosaics are in vogue, Gucci’s 2022 high jewellery collection, Hortus Deliciarum, evokes the romance of the 19th century Grand Tour and include, you guessed it, micromosaics.

Silica or sand is blasted at 1,400 degrees in furnaces to create glass that is coloured by adding different minerals.

For more information about the Evening at Sicis Jewels event on 2 November, please visit the Events section of the Club website.

Hortus Deliciarum micromosaic necklace, Gucci