Giulia Lentini

Goldsmith | Milan, Italy

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The age of Bronze

Giulia uses the lost wax casting technique
Her favourite material is bronze: red and yellow
In October 2020, she opened her concept store in Milan

When Giulia Lentini was a child, her favourite hobby was to create costume jewellery for herself and for her friends. After high school, this passion for making jewellery with her hands had grown more and more. So, she decided to move to Vicenza, one of the most important cities in Italy for jewellery design and production. Here she found a master goldsmith who accepted her as an apprentice in his bottega. After two years, she returned to Milan with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Giulia designs and produces her own jewels, giving life to completely handcrafted creations made with the traditional techniques and without the use of industrial production processes. Always fascinated by sculpture, her collections arise from the desire to give life and form to the inorganic matter that we find in nature, with particular attention to the marine world.

Interview

©Stefano Anzini

©Stefano Anzini

Which is your favourite technique?: I use traditional goldsmith techniques, using non-precious materials and stones. The most used technique is that of microsculpture and lost wax casting, an ancient sculptural technique that dates back to the Bronze Age and which is still used today in various fields.
Why did you choose bronze?: Bronze helps me, with its colour, to make all my jewels sculptural. It was probably the first metal to be discovered by man and today we also appreciate it for its colour: it’s the only non-precious metal, together with brass, to come close in colour to that of gold.
How do you get an idea for a piece of jewellery?: I start from a story – which is not mine – or from a precious family’s stone. Then, a dialogue between me and my customer starts: we speak through sketches, little changes and prototypes.
As a craftsman how do you connect with others?: I’ve been looking for a meeting point with the customer for a long time. From this, I created IsolaLab, a place where my know-how materialise and I can get in touch with other small artisan businesses.

Giulia Lentini is a rising star: she began her career in 2018