Antique jewellery: the beauty that time has not consumed.
Each piece has lived. It has crossed generations, received caresses, accompanied ceremonies and ordinary days. When it arrives in our hands, we recognise its history, verify its authenticity, and bring it back to light. And it is ready to begin a new chapter, with you.
An antique jewel is not simply an old object. It is a fragment of the world that has reached us through decades or centuries, survived wars, relocations, inheritances, rediscoveries. When you hold it in your hands for the first time, you feel something that new jewellery cannot offer: the awareness that someone else loved it before us, and that it will continue to be loved after us.
Genova has an ancient and profound goldsmith tradition. Its workshops have worked the coral of the Riviera, mounted shell cameos, carved gold for noble families, produced devotional and travel jewellery for generations of merchants. Cicala, founded in 1950 as a diamond cutting workshop, has always been part of this world: it knows it, understands it, and knows how to restore it. Over the years, it has selected jewellery for its clients that deserve a second life.
Choosing one is a contemporary gesture. It is rejecting the throwaway logic that has invaded even the world of industrial jewellery, it is choosing uniqueness over seriality, it is preferring the patina of time to the sterility of the new. It is, ultimately, a gesture of elegance.
Three reasons why choosing one is a choice that lasts.
Unrepeatable uniqueness
Every antique jewel is a unique specimen. The manufacturing techniques of the past did not produce identical replicas: the goldsmith's hand always left a personal trace, and today those pieces cannot be recreated in the same way. By wearing it, you wear something that no one else in the world possesses exactly the same.
Style that endures
Belle Époque, Liberty, Art Deco, the Fifties. Each era has left a formal language that we now recognise as iconic. A Deco ring is not just "old": it is the distillation of a season of taste that continues to speak, and to be copied by contemporary brands. Those who choose the original own the source, not the photocopy.
Value that endures
An authentic antique jewel, if well selected, maintains or increases its value over time. Unlike mid-range industrial jewellery, which quickly loses value in the second-hand market, quality historical pieces are sought after by collectors and investors worldwide. They are wearable art.
What we choose for our collection of antique jewellery.
Not everything that is old deserves to be in a collection. For each piece that arrives with us — through direct purchase, inheritance, or exchange — our Pegli workshop performs a complete technical appraisal: verification of hallmarks and stamps, analysis of the metal alloy, authentication of gems, inspection of soldering, evaluation of the state of preservation and any restoration needs.
The types we most frequently handle include:
- Belle Époque, Deco, Fifties engagement rings and solitaires
- Cameos in carnelian and shell, including Genoese school
- Liberty brooches and pins in gold, enamels, natural pearls
- 19th-century necklaces and pendants, devotional jewellery, travel crosses
- Bracelets and parures in 750 gold and low-grade gold from the early 20th century
- Period drop earrings, mourning jewellery in jet and onyx
Each piece we decide to offer is accompanied by a descriptive card with the written appraisal, is sold with accessories (original box when available, any documents) and enjoys our 12-month warranty on structural defects. Upon request, we can issue an official signed appraisal, valid for insurance purposes.
Are you looking for a specific piece, or do you want to discover what we have selected?
Our catalogue of antique jewellery changes continuously, with new acquisitions and inheritances arriving from our territory. Often the most interesting pieces are offered in preview before being published online. Write to us to tell us what you are looking for: an era, a type, an occasion. We will be happy to show you what we have, or to find it for you.
