Jewels in Cortona

This is my friend Christine and the Cortonese jewelry artisan Antonio Massarutto.  Christine showed me a few rings she'd bought from him and, after seeing him strolling his baby through the Piazza Repubblica, insisted that we check out his shop.

I expected a few old-fashioned-looking, hand-hammered rings with tiny stones, but that's not at all what I discovered.

Antonio, who is also a sculptor, uses unusual metals -- white and rose golds, for example -- and gems and stones like fire opals to create clean, modern pieces.  I tried on several, including the gorgeous, hard-angled gold ring at the bottom of this post, with onyx pave-cut gems encrusted on the sides like stars scattered in a constellation.  He put a bronze ring on my finger, which I quickly took off again and pointed to a gold ring.  

"Gold," he said.  "Why always gold?"

"Oh, I'm sort of into the 1970s Carly Simon, big hat, flowy dress, barefoot thing lately," I said.  "I love silver, but I'm more into the gold vibe lately." Christine nodded in agreement, but Antonio, who didn't grow up with American pop culture, obviously, was at a loss.  

"Cah-rrrr-leee Simon?" he asked.  Christine and I shrugged, shared the moment, continued gaping at the jewelry.

Finally, I chose these two delicate simple rings that can be worn together or separately.  "These are for everyday," Antonio said.

What he means is everyday fabulous.