Buonocore in the United States: Italian High Jewellery, Bought from the Workshop

American high jewellery is bought by brand. You choose the house first, the piece second, and a large part of what you pay is the name on the box — which is a perfectly rational way to buy, because the name is also the resale.

Italian high jewellery works the other way round. The houses are workshops that happen to have names, and what you are buying is the setting, the stone selection and the hand that finished it. Buonocore is one of these: 18kt gold, natural diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, made in Italy. This is a guide for American buyers to what is in the catalogue and what ordering it actually involves.

NOON reversible: the house signature

The piece that defines Buonocore is the NOON reversible bracelet: a patented soft mesh that is worn two ways, turning to show a different gold or a different arrangement of diamonds depending on which face is up.

The idea is not a gimmick, and the reason is practical. A high jewellery bracelet is normally a single decision — this gold, this stone, this level of formality — worn on the occasions that suit it. A reversible one is two decisions in a single object, which changes how often it leaves the safe. That is the whole argument, and it is a good one.

Five pieces from the catalogue

The Unique ring, 10.32ct of white diamonds and emeralds is the statement piece of this selection. Emeralds against white diamonds in white gold is a hard combination to get right — the green has to be saturated enough to hold its own against that much white light, or it reads as grey. Here it holds.

It is also the answer to a question American buyers ask often: what to wear on the right hand when the left is already spoken for.

The yellow gold necklace, 2.25ct is the wearable end of the range. Two and a quarter carats in 18kt yellow is enough to be unmistakably fine jewellery and light enough to go to work, which is the piece most people should own before they own a twenty-carat one.

The NOON full-smooth bracelet, 4.33ct, 17 cm is the reversible signature in its cleanest form: yellow and white gold, a soft mesh that follows the wrist instead of standing off it, and 4.33 carats of white diamonds. At 17 cm it fits a small to medium wrist — measure before ordering rather than after.

The Daylight tennis necklace, 9.25ct is the classic American shape done to Italian specification. On a tennis line, what to look at is not the total but the consistency: whether the stones are calibrated to a matched size and whether the colour holds along the whole row. That is where the work is, and it is invisible until it is missing.

The Leaf marquise necklace, 23.31ct is the top of the catalogue. Marquise cuts set in a leaf claw, twenty-three carats of them, and almost no visible metal. This is an auction-house shape at a workshop price, and it is the piece to write to us about rather than to add to a cart.

Colour, and why it is worth the trouble

Most American fine jewellery buying goes to white diamonds, and there is a good reason: they are easy to value, easy to insure and easy to resell. Coloured stones are none of those things automatically.

What they are is identifiable. A 10-carat white diamond ring is a category; the same ring with emeralds set into it is a specific object that people remember. If you are buying a piece that will be worn for thirty years and then handed on, that distinction is worth something real.

Buonocore works natural rubies, sapphires and emeralds alongside diamonds, always in 18kt gold. Ask us about the stones in a specific reference before you order — on coloured stones, origin and treatment are the questions that matter and we will tell you what we know rather than what sounds good.

What you actually pay

Italian VAT comes off at checkout. The United States is outside the European Union, so the 22 % Italian VAT is deducted rather than added. On a piece at this level that is a substantial figure, and the price shown on the product page is the Italian retail price with tax included.

Duty is settled on arrival. US import duty and any applicable taxes are set by US Customs and Border Protection based on the declared value and the classification of the goods; the courier handles the customs entry and collects what is owed. It is not in our price, and we do not quote a number that is not ours to set.

Delivery is €22.50, three to five working days to any US address, insured for the full value, tracked door to door from Genoa, with signature required. On the higher-value pieces we prefer to agree the shipment with you first — the date, the address, and who will be there.

Questions from American buyers

Will I get an appraisal for insurance? The invoice states the gold fineness and the total carat weight, which is what most US insurers open a policy on. For a formal appraisal in dollars you will want a local appraiser; ask us first what documentation comes with the specific reference.

How do I convert my ring size? The Italian size is the inside circumference in millimetres minus 40 — an Italian 14 is 54 mm, roughly a US 6¾ to 7. Send us your US size and we will convert it, or measure the inside circumference of a ring that fits and send the millimetres.

Can a piece be resized? Rings with a continuous line of stones often cannot be, and a bracelet shortened by removing links loses carat weight and value. Both are worth discussing before the order, not after.

Does white gold need maintenance? It is rhodium-plated, and the plating wears with years of daily contact. Re-plating is normal maintenance, not a fault, and any competent jeweller in the States can do it.

Are the diamonds natural? Yes. The house works natural diamonds and natural precious stones. Nothing in this selection is laboratory grown.