I
t has been only a matter of weeks since Francesca Amfitheatrof parted ways with Louis Vuitton by mutual agreement, after seven years as artistic director of jewellery and watches. But when we speak over Zoom she could not appear to be more relaxed. Perhaps it’s where she is based — Il Pellicano in Tuscany for a celebration of the hotel’s 60th anniversary. She’s joined on the call by the CEO and creative director of the Pellicano Hotel Group, Marie-Louise Sciò, to discuss their jewellery collaboration marking “the Pelli’s” six decades. “I’m very happy,” says Amfitheatrof, “it’s perfect timing in life.”
The women were both brought up in Rome (Amfitheatrof is half Italian) and their mothers, they discovered recently, are also friends. Amfitheatrof is a loyal guest of Il Pellicano hotels; Sciò is effusive in her praise of the jeweller. “I love what she does, it’s fantastic to have something designed by her.”
The idea to collaborate started over a swim on Ischia last July. “It just happened really naturally,” she says. Their completed creation is a medallion pendant crafted in silver or gold; a gnarly, textured take on the ancient Roman mask Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth, which can be found outside the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.
