How My Trip to Florence Inspired Our Italy Collection
Almost exactly a year ago, I stood in Florence in front of Torre di Bellosguardo, the tower where my great-great-aunt Walburga Countess von Hohenthal, later Lady Paget, spent almost thirty years of her life. I honestly hadn't expected this trip to have anything to do with Bracenet.
I had come to Florence to follow in the footsteps of a woman who, more than a hundred years before me, had walked through the same gardens, gazed at the same hills, and experienced the same sunsets over Tuscany. But the deeper I delved into her story, the more I understood why she fascinated me so much.
Wally was many things: a diplomat's wife, an author, a lady-in-waiting at Buckingham Palace to Princess Royal Victoria, a hostess to the political elite, and a networker. But above all, she was someone who had the courage to go against the spirit of the times. Not just someone, but a woman at a time when this was considered very foolish.
At a time when hardly anyone spoke about animal welfare, she publicly advocated against animal cruelty. She wrote about vegetarianism long before it was socially accepted, published a book on vegetarianism, and campaigned against the blinding of songbirds. A story from her diary particularly impressed me: Wally stormed the Pope's office to get an audience and protest against vivisections (operating on animals without anesthesia). Not because it was convenient. Not because it was popular, but because she was convinced it was wrong. She violated all etiquette, and it was important to her.
As I walked through Florence and read her diaries, I realized that many of the issues that drive me today are not so far from hers. The desire to take responsibility and question things. And to stand up for something, even if it's not always the easiest path.
In my luggage were the first prototypes of our Bracenet Charms. Still unfinished. Still far from the designs you know today (you can see the spray-painted prototype quite well in the picture). But it was there that an idea emerged: perhaps our story is not just about ghost nets. Perhaps the things we create can also tell other stories. Perhaps they even have to, in order to appeal to people who don't live in our bubble.
Stories about people who inspire us and places that shape us. About important values that sometimes last for generations, or even revive. And that's why I thought, perhaps not every pendant has to be a fish; perhaps a charm can also convey a feeling or a memory.
The Italian pendants give me the feeling of a summer evening with the salty air of the Mediterranean when I look at them. At that time, however, I had no idea how much work lay between this idea and the finished product. The Medusa, hanging from the dark blue Sicily fishing net, did not begin as a perfectly drawn piece of jewelry. It started more as a spontaneous idea.
After days of research, I found a pendant that, at least in size, was perfect. I spray-painted the Medusa, which was nowhere near one, with gold spray and tried to figure out how to turn an idea into a perfect charm that you actually want to wear. A Medusa that looks Italian and lives up to its meaning. Medusa is often seen today as a symbol of strength, protection, and transformation. In antiquity, her face was worn on buildings, shields, and jewelry to ward off evil. Especially in Southern Italy and Sicily, you still encounter her again and again, as a reminder that even from difficult stories, strength and beauty can emerge.
Countless messages, sketches, samples, changes, new samples, further changes, and discussions about sizes, shapes, surfaces, and details followed. How big can the snakes be? How filigree can they even be produced? What does the back look like? Matte or glossy? Gold or silver? Which eyelet? Which texture?
Each time I thought, now we're done. And each time, something else occurred to me. Anyone who has ever developed a product knows: the last ten percent often cost ninety percent of the nerves. Today, I see the finished pendants on the net and sometimes have to smile at the first prototypes. At the same time, I love this very path to get there. Because behind every single pendant is not just an idea, but a whole year full of thoughts, decisions, doubts, and enthusiasm.
This following ceramic version was my inspiration. Close enough to the flag, yet handmade.
A collection rooted between old diaries, Mediterranean landscapes, and the alleys of Florence. A collection that has connected past and present in the Torre di Bellosguardo. And that reminds us that inspiration sometimes arises where we listen to the stories of those who came before us.
Almost a year later, it's finally here. And for me personally, it's not only the most beautiful Bracenet we've ever had, but also a small piece of Florence and the energy of my great-great-aunt for marine conservation, which I now always carry with me as a talisman.
From the Mediterranean Sea, with Love.
Yours, Madeleine