Marco Bicego Launches First High Jewelry Collection
MILAN — Marco Bicego is introducing the brand’s first high jewelry collection, called Alta, which means “high” in Italian.
The collection was unveiled during Haute Jewels Geneva 2022, the international high jewelry exhibition that took place at the Fairmont Grand Hotel in Geneva March 30 to April 5, concurrently with the Watches and Wonders trade show.
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“This is a natural evolution, a more extreme, more important and richer interpretation of the magnificence of natural gemstones,” said Marco Bicego, creative director of the company, which he founded in 2000.
Bicego works only with natural, non-treated and non-heated gems, ranging from diamonds, sapphires and iolites, to topazes, quartzes, amethysts, mixed tourmalines, aquamarines and freshwater pearls, paying particular attention to the color, weight, cut and shape. Also, he only employs 18-karat gold settings to enhance the gems.
Bicego paid tribute to the skills of his artisans, who “painstakingly etch and craft each intricate piece by hand using traditional techniques,” in the company’s atelier and headquarters in Trissino, near the goldsmith hub of Vicenza, Italy.
He expressed pride in the collection and the pleasure in seeing how it was received in Geneva, supporting his confidence in the launch at this particular moment. “I think there’s an opportunity we can catch here, further enhancing the value of the brand,” he contended. “We see high jewelry as the art of elevating precious stones. Nature, flowers and leaves have always been sources of inspiration to me, and we still are very loyal to these concepts, because they give us the possibility to highlight the traditional handcrafting techniques we use.”
Versatility is also key for Bicego. For example, the 18-karat gold, finely engraved using an ancient Florentine technique, and platinum earrings with briolette diamonds can be worn in as many as six combinations. Mounted on platinum, the white briolette diamonds have a total carat of 107.28.
image courtesy of Marco Bicego
A multistrand bracelet with diamonds is an evolution of the brand’s signature Marrakech collection — one of its bestsellers, said Bicego — featuring multiple strands of twisted coil in 18-karat yellow gold, lit up by brilliant-cut diamonds.
Prices range from 80,000 to 240,000 euros for some of the Alta pieces.
Group consolidated sales in 2021 amounted to 45 million euros. Exports represented 85 percent of revenues and the U.S. is one of the brand’s main markets, accounting for 45 percent of sales. The company has a branch in San Francisco, as well as in Tokyo.
There are 12 monobrand stores globally, in addition to shops-in-shop in Bloomingdale’s, Mitsukoshi and Printemps, among others.
Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet and Viola Davis are among the celebrities who have been seen wearing Marco Bicego.
Already selling online in the U.S., Italy and Germany, digital is also a priority, said Bicego, as the brand will launch a new website in September with plans to expand to other countries.
image courtesy of Marco Bicego
The Bicego factory in Trissino, which employs 100 artisans, was founded in 1958 by Marco’s father. Production is vertical and all in-house, even the melting of the gold. The hand engraving with the bulino, an ancient tool used to add a one-of-a-kind finish to the gold, is fundamental to the brand’s aesthetic. Coil, the twisted thread of gold, is also a Marco Bicego signature.
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