ilvia Damiani is Vice President of Damiani Group and President of Venini. She supervises everything relating to external relations and image for the group’s brands. The “female face” of the business, she, alongside brothers Giorgio and Guido, represents the third generation of the Damiani family.

No longer just a jewellery brand, the Damiani Group promotes ‘Handmade In Italy’ the world over, through its six brands – jewellery houses Damiani, Salvini, Bliss and Calderoni; luxury retailer Rocca, and art glassmaker Venini - each outstanding in its segment.

Damiani is unique in the world of jewellery as the only global company that still crafts all its products in Valenza, where it was founded in 1924. One of the great names in international jewellery, it is renowned for its craftsmanship and expertise.

Silvia Damiani, Vice President of Damiani Group and President of Venini

The Damiani 100 x 100 Italiani exhibition, held at Gallerie d’Italia in Milan to commemorate the brand’s one hundredth anniversary, ran until April 2024. This was a significant choice for the Damiani family: to share with the public a collection of incredibly rare stones - wonders of nature, imbued with a remarkable history - which had been brought to life in a magnificent act of creation by Valenza’s master goldsmiths; custodians of their art since 1924. The result is a collection of 100 jewelled masterpieces, testament to an ongoing and unique artisanal tradition.

We met Silvia Damiani shortly after the Venice Film Festival, where actresses and celebrities lit up the red carpet in Damiani and Salvini jewellery.

Europa Star Jewellery: You joined the company in 1985, but the family firm has been part of your life since childhood. What were your first roles and how did you progress to your current position?

Silvia Damiani: I graduated in gemmology from the Italian Gemmological Institute in 1987 then in 1991 I was awarded a Master’s in business administration from IPSOA. I joined the company straight after high school. My father was a great connoisseur of diamonds and, during those years, he also taught me how to select and buy pearls. I used to travel with him to Japan and gradually learned how to spot the finest pearls and buy them at source.

A few years later, I started making these trips by myself, entering into important negotiations and acquiring pearls of greater and greater value. Having my father’s support and trust gave me confidence and made me want to do my part to grow the family business, buying wisely to always have the best product and the best margin.

After several years gaining vital experience ‘in the field’, I became involved in communications as director of the media buying department. This led me to key positions within the company, always involving the contractual side of business as well as public relations, and now I’m in charge of the group’s image.

The Mimosa Aurora necklace is set with an exceptional oval-cut rubellite of 124 carats, in harmony with the diamonds, pink sapphires and rubies, to suggest dawn’s light. ©Damiani

You work closely with your brothers Guido and Giorgio. What is their role and what type of collaboration do you have?

Thanks to our father’s guidance, Giorgio has developed a keen instinct for diamonds and coloured stones. He has charge of the creative aspect and development of international markets. Guido is President of Damiani and defines group strategy. My brothers and I are in total harmony. Of course, we have business discussions. The company has grown considerably and the one hundredth anniversary has been the occasion to think about the future. Our objectives are to consolidate our position in Italy – we are the largest entirely Italian jewellery firm – and to continue to expand internationally.

How would you define your brand and its international positioning? What are its greatest assets?

Our company embodies a century of experience, skill and expertise. It is a homage to Italian excellence, a journey through time, a tribute to the genius that shaped these jewels, the craftsmanship that transformed them into masterpieces and the passion that guided their creation. Each jewel is living testament to a century of dedication and know-how.

Mimosa Nightfall is the star of the Mimosa collection, embodying Damiani’s commitment to craftsmanship and creativity with its central sapphire of 100.19 carats and royal blue colour. ©Damiani

We have built our history on key values. That the company is still in family hands, ready to be passed on to our children, is a way for us to honour our parents’ memory. We made the considered decision not to sell to any of the large luxury groups, to preserve our Italian identity and also looking ahead to the time when we will hand over to the next generation, our children.

Valenza, where it all began and where the world’s finest jewellery is created, is still the genius loci of our production and expertise. Everything we do, every day, is instilled with passion, creativity and craftsmanship.

Almost three-quarters of Damiani’s workforce are women. You have always been an advocate for women’s causes. Which projects are you most proud of and how do you incorporate them into your working life?

There has always been a high percentage of female employees at Damiani, one of the main reasons being their affinity with the products we sell. Our jewellery is destined first and foremost for a female clientele, so naturally we employ women, who can give us their opinion and share their sentiment about the product. We believe it’s important to balance private life, family life and working life. Family is the cornerstone of our company and central to the relationship we have with our employees. For me, this is already an important means of supporting women.

From a more global perspective, and on a personal level, in cooperation with Microsoft and the United Nations, I actively supported the Pink Cloud initiative to encourage more women to take up careers in science and technology, and to promote greater representation of women in business, industry, politics and society.

As an ambassador for Oxfam, an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation focused on humanitarian aid and development, I travelled to South Africa where I visited projects designed to improve the lives of thousands of people, especially women, by helping lift them out of extreme poverty and become economically independent.

You used to live in Los Angeles. Do you have any ‘insider’ stories you can share about the stars you met?

I spent three years there, from 2010 to 2013. Moving to Los Angeles followed naturally from what I’d already started to build, in terms of image. Working with photographers of Peter Lindbergh’s calibre for our campaigns made me want to learn more about life at the Hollywood majors and encounter the talented individuals who have marked photography and art history.

For three years, I managed relations with Hollywood stars. I personally chose Isabella Rossellini, Brad Pitt, Nastassja Kinski, Chiara Mastroianni, Milla Jovovich, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston as spokespersons for the brand; immense stars who were photographed for Damiani campaigns by the likes of Fabrizio Ferri, Dominique Issermann, Sante D’Orazio, Greg Williams and Peter Lindbergh.

Since returning to Italy, I still have a strong connection with celebrities. I personally supervise the choice of jewellery they wear for important occasions such as a red carpet, precisely because this is a personal and special moment. Sophia Loren, an icon of Italian cinema and a close friend of the Damiani family, inspired a collection that bears her name. Sharon Stone, another huge star, joined us for a project to build clean water wells in Africa.

Fantasy Cut Elementi Acqua bracelet – white and pink gold; a pink-brown radiant-cut fancy diamond weighing 2.06 carats; brilliant-cut and fancy-cut Paraiba tourmalines weighing a total of 33.58 carats. ©Damiani

Brad Pitt asked you to make Jennifer Aniston’s engagement ring. How did the creative process unfold and what was it like to bring his idea to life?

When Brad Pitt contacted us to create an engagement ring for Jennifer Aniston, I had to pinch myself to be sure it was real. He’d seen the Blue Moon earrings I’d designed the previous year and asked if I could work along similar creative lines. It was a very enriching and exciting collaboration. In addition to being extremely charming, he is a consummate professional and a man of value. He starred in one of our advertising campaigns, shot by Peter Lindbergh at the Warner Brothers studio in Los Angeles.

You also have a working relationship with filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. What’s that like?

I’ve recently had more opportunity to get to know him. He’s quite an eclectic personality and a remarkably perceptive individual. He’s also an art collector and enthusiast who has an acute sense of colour as a means of expression. I’d already spotted the Venini Fazzoletto vase on some of his film sets, especially Pain and Glory. There’s more Venini in his latest film, The Room Next Door, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He asked me if I would organise the post-screening dinner. Experiences such as this remind me how lucky I am to do this job!

Belle Epoque Celebration cross in white gold, set with brilliant-cut diamonds and coloured diamonds in different cuts, alternating with kite-cut diamonds. ©Damiani

Damiani has won multiple Diamonds International Awards, including for the Blue Moon earrings which you designed. What inspired you for them?

The Blue Moon earrings are in white and yellow gold with 13.19 carats of diamonds. They represent the profile of a woman, gazing at the moon. Our “apparent chaos” setting technique blends stones of different sizes, on different levels, to create depth. Brad Pitt became interested in the brand after seeing these earrings.

How did you choose the 100 fine jewellery pieces for Damiani’s one hundredth anniversary exhibition? Which have the most significance for you and which are representative of the stages in the brand’s international positioning?

The pieces we chose represent important stages in our know-how. For the opening night, I wore a mikado silk dress in ruby red and the Dama in Rosa necklace, set with sapphires from dusky pink to cherry red and a beautiful rubellite centrestone. I associate red with energy and I needed that energy to overcome the nerves that are always part of such an important event. Another exceptional piece, in my opinion, is the Paraiba bracelet with an emerald-cut pink diamond in its centre. There are so many I could mention. Of course, there is the Eternal Blue, inspired by the history of jewellery. The eye becomes lost in the myriad luminous facets of the central blue sapphire.

You are also President of Venini, another famous name in Italian craftsmanship. How do you manage both positions and how did you become involved in the glassmaking world?

Jewellery and glassmaking are quite similar in reality. Melting the glass in the furnace implies the utmost care when preparing the mould and blowing the glass, and this is mirrored in the waxes and moulds we employ in jewellery. Venini is characteristic of Italy’s long tradition of seeking and creating beauty, and shares the same family values as Damiani. When the opportunity arose to acquire Venini in 2020, we were in no doubt that this would be positive for the group’s other companies, too. As President, I have great respect for Venini’s tradition but evolution and change are also part of my vision for the company. This, for me, is the true challenge: striking a balance between past and future. There is a similar dynamic at work in jewellery design.

What’s next for the Damiani brand and for you?

Damiani continues to grow. We’re developing our international presence and consolidating a number of key markets worldwide. In recent years, Venini has expanded into light fittings and we have completed several bespoke projects for major luxury groups.

After Damiani’s one hundredth anniversary exhibition, we realised we should begin compiling our archives, something I’d been putting off for a long while, but the exhibition made me realise it was time. There are so many documents to go through, many of which are handwritten, and I also talk to people who have been with the company longer than I have. It takes passion, patience and long hours, but these archives are fundamental in building a legacy and setting down a memory for future generations who will manage the company.

For me, this is also a personal project because it is a journey through time and through our family history. It brings back beautiful but distant memories of my parents, a great deal of emotion and nostalgia, but these memories of past times and my family’s enduring values are a source of strength.