One of the more necessary, if irritating, parts of a piece of jewellery is the clasp. It’s how a bracelet closes the loop and stays on the wrist. But what if precious gold could stretch, like a scrunchy, and slip onto your wrist? This is a question for which the Italian jewellery brand Fope (pronounced foh-pay) has a delectably fun-to-touch answer.
Founded in 1929 in Vicenza, a hub of goldsmithing, Fope has recently opened its first outpost in Singapore, with a counter on the first floor of Takashimaya. Established here in partnership with Flower Diamond, this is the Italian brand’s third Southeast Asian market after openings in Thailand and Malaysia.
Goldsmithing excellence is at the heart of Fope, with roots in the artisanal expertise of its home in Vicenza. The brand’s signature, and which runs through virtually all of its collections, is a combination of the Novecento mesh and the Flex’it technique. The former is a smooth, mesh weave of chainworking that was introduced in the early 1980s, and the latter a patented invention of tiny gold springs inserted into the gold weave to create a springy tactility.
Here, Tommaso Foralosso, Fope’s sales manager for the Middle East and Asia Pacific, gives Vogue an introduction to the brand.
Fope comes from the Vicenza goldsmithing tradition. It’s almost a hundred years old, but there’s lots of innovation—how do you combine those qualities?
Tradition is very important. We are very rooted to our history, to our city and to our culture. At the same time, we believe that technology is a key factor to create up-to-date modern jewellery. In fact, our production is a perfect mix of craftsmanship and technology.
Can you tell us a bit more about that craftsmanship and technology?
The design, evolution and production of the collection has always been in-house. It’s 100% made in Italy, in Vicenza, in our facility. The design of the mesh evolved during the ‘80s and ‘90s; the idea was to create a very comfortable, very fluid chain without soldering points between the links. That was the concept: a gentle mesh. And then in the year 2000 it evolved, becoming Flex’it.
What difference does the lack of soldering make?
The difference is that a chain becomes very fluid, very free to move. It’s not rigid, and the jewellery is flexible, the jewellery is comfortable. Comfort is one of the key elements, [as well as] originality in the design, and elegance.
The signature Fope chain is called the Novecento. That’s Italian for…
900. It’s a tribute to the 20th century. That’s when Fope was born, grown, and when we made history.
I read that before Fope became a jewellery brand, it was an artisan workshop and factory producing watch straps.
It started as a small laboratory. Vicenza is considered the city of gold because, historically, there’s a big goldsmith district in our city. So [there were] many small laboratories that produced parts for big, international jewellery or watch brands. Fope produced straps for names like Longines, and other well known brands.
But at the same time, we learned the perfection and technology [needed] to produce watches, and the manufacturing of gold, which evolved into bracelets, necklaces and a complete jewellery brand.
It’s almost an evolution that started from production techniques.
A match between the two worlds. Many of our partners around the world come to visit our factory—that’s something we always do. We invite our clients or magazines, and we are happy to show them what we do and how we do it. We like people to know what the reality of Fope is. And they’re very surprised by the cleanliness, the perfection and the technology, which they may have experienced when they went to see a big watch or jewellery brand.
Fope has a bracelet style that looks very similar to the beads of rice style found on watches—presumably a link to its history. Are there other historical details like that in the collection today?
There are some production secrets… There are a lot, because every single different chain in Fope is a registered worldwide patent. Every shape of the gold links, every shape of chains. When we used to have clasps, even that was registered. And, of course, the Flex’it.
Are you saying that almost every part of your jewellery is patented?
Yes, we are very meticulous.
So does that mean Fope will never do something like a curb chain or a standard round chain?
No. We have to stick to what we do, what people like us for, and recognise us for.
Fope has opened its first retail presence in Singapore. For people who are new and getting introduced to the brand, how would you suggest styling and wearing the pieces?
The key is mix and match. That’s a concept that our clients like, and they’ve shown us that they want it to be like that. Some people ask me, “but don’t they get bored of the same look here and there?” The attention is on the details. We are Italian, so we pay a lot of attention to details in clothes and style. The details change everything, right?
Our client, anyway, likes to stack different models of bracelets together, so last year we launched the half-and-half bicolour collection. It’s an addition to their look. The good thing is that you don’t have to become the style of Fope. We become a complement to your style, and that’s what we want to be.
Your brand works entirely in 18-carat gold. What do you think of the surge in gold prices these days?
We cannot escape that. We are fully in this typhoon on gold prices. What can we do? Of course, we have to adjust to the market, but we have to stay loyal to ourselves. Gold is what we do, and gold is what we will always do.
Besides being the Vicenza tradition, why do you think gold is still so loved and desired?
You can check in the history of every culture, everywhere, [gold] has always been something that attracts humanity. And we think it’s always going to be like that.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
