Pasquale Bruni: The Name of the Rose

Pasquale Bruni unveiled the Rosina haute joaillerie collection, dedicated to both a specific woman and the very idea of femininity, at the Parisian Musée Les Arts Décoratifs.

Rosina's story began when the jewelry house’s creative director, Eugenia Bruni, visited Calabria, where her father Pasquale was born and raised, to see his childhood home. During her visit, she took a long walk in the Valley of the Mountain and came across a solitary blooming rose covered with dew. This rose became, for her, a visible embodiment of the idea of femininity as a continuous transformation, which is both a process and a mystery.

This powerful image evokes memories of Aunt Rosina – the woman who welcomed her father to Valenza, where he established his jewelry brand. She was a tireless muse, small in stature but full of energy, devoted to family, friends, and her land. Rosina thus lent her name to the collection: a tribute to all women who leave an invisible yet profound mark on our lives.

One thing you need to know about Eugenia Bruni is that everything that might seem like clichés of jewelry storytelling becomes an accurate description of her creative processes. She genuinely saves photos of flowers she finds remarkable on her phone and uses them as references for her collections. Reflections on metamorphoses and femininity are an integral part of her identity, as she is a professional yoga teacher deeply immersed in meditative practices.

To unveil the collection for clients and the press, Eugenia Bruni and the Balich Wonder Studio team created an immersive installation. They transformed two floors of a separate space in the musée Les Arts Décoratifs into a magical garden where the moon rose and the flowers bloomed. The moon and the flowers are also enduring symbols for Eugenia Bruni.

Just like the Moon, the female nature has two sides – much like a rose with its blossoms and thorns. Every piece of jewelry in this collection features both a dark and a light side. Each petal of the rose, the central theme of this collection, whether it’s a necklace, a pair of earrings, a ring, or a brooch, is adorned with a pavé of diamonds: when worn and in motion, everything transforms into light. At the back of the central necklace, a heart of pink sapphires and rubies is hidden. It can only be seen by the woman wearing the necklace, and this, as Eugenia Bruni says, serves as a sign of protection, accompanying the wearer in her journey from girlhood to adulthood, preserving the memory of all stages of this transformation. On the back of each piece’s pavé, a pattern of hearts and moons can be found.

Each jewel in the collection – from rings to necklaces, earrings to brooches – fits the skin almost seamlessly. In Eugenia’s atelier at the house’s Valenza manufacture, there are anatomical models of the body parts where the jewelry will be worn, whether a hand or an ear, and the designer conducts fittings of pliable models of future jewelry on them, achieving a perfect fit.

The earrings transform from petals into seductive moons. The brooch becomes a pendant. The ring is a petal embrace around the index finger, but the petals become thorns along the shank. Even the choker necklace has a dual nature: from the front, we see a blooming rose made of petals covered with a diamond pavé (the Pasquale Bruni pavage technique is brilliant), and if you look at the back, these petals line up and alternate with others, made of pure polished white gold, virtually transforming into the arrows of Diana the Huntress, the goddess of the Moon.

Eugenia Bruni says that Rosina honors the quiet power of women and their endless capacity to blossom wherever life takes them. There is no doubt that this is precisely how she conceived the collection. In addition to their symbolic component, these pieces are also exceptionally elegant and bright jewelry, reflecting their creator’s strong and integral vision.

Courtesy: Pasquale Bruni

Text: Elena Stafyeva