MOJEH catches up with Roberto Coin during an exclusive interview in the luxurious Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach. The Italian high jewellery designer explains why creations should be chosen and crafted around the woman who wears it, and discusses the future of his illustrious maison.
Tell us about your jewellery tastes.
I like the extremely classical. Even though I love innovation, I do like a classic style. I do like to be classic. I like proportions. Today, ladies change weekly. Today they may have one job, tomorrow they may have another job. Today you’re single, tomorrow you’re married. But jewellery doesn’t change.
The younger generation wants something nice. They love to please themselves. They don’t like the silver their mother had, they like their grandmother’s jewellery, but not their mother’s jewellery. They don’t like to look like everybody else, they don’t want to look the same. When you really think about it, when you go shopping, you want something different. If you have something that others don’t have, people notice you.
At Roberto Coin you’ll find something that’s new. In jewellery, there’s not much that’s new. They are beautiful, important pieces, but in regard to the daily wearables, there’s less and less. So if you want to find the new, you must find it in Roberto Coin. We create 600 models every year.
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It’s not important to me; money. It’s not important to be that I become a billionaire. It’s important to me that I’m happy all my life. I don’t represent money. If you want money, follow the other jewellers; the other jewellers that need to be recognised. People who say, “Oh, I have the most expensive Cartier.” Cartier is beautiful, and I’m not judging other people. I love Chopard, I love Cartier, I love Boucheron. They all create beautiful jewellery and I respect all that, I respect it a lot. But me? I just want to be Roberto, and what Roberto represents. I represent the future, at Roberto Coin you’ll find something that’s new.
Does working for a brand limit a jewellery designer’s creativity?
It does. I can sell a bracelet with diamonds - big diamonds and small diamonds - maybe a ruby or sapphire, but that isn’t right because today you’re dressed like this but tomorrow or next year you may be dressed differently. I can match [a piece of jewellery] what you’re wearing today, but I cannot match with what you’ll be wearing tomorrow, or next year, even. However, when I’m making a piece specifically for a person, I can imagine it, because I’m creating for the future. Creativity is beautiful in that way. It’s fascinating, no?
What do you hope to achieve with your jewellery?
I want to express beauty! I want to express is singularly. Beauty is not based on price, beauty is not beauty because it’s expensive. A lot of those expensive pieces are horrible. Well, not horrible, not not nice. They’re not elegant. You see power in a piece that’s worth a million dollars, but is it nice? I like women to be elegant, and I like them to be intelligent and professional.
