Last year in Shanghai, the Milanese jeweller and silverware brand Buccellati staged an exhibition to showcase its heritage and identity. Titled ‘The Prince of Goldsmiths’, and subtitled ‘Buccellati, Rediscovering the Classics’, it was a follow-up to an earlier show held in Venice. Where the Chinese edition differed was an increased emphasis on telling the story of this jewellery brand and the family behind it. Buccellati joined the Richemont group of luxury brands in 2019, but—rather unlike many family-named heritage brands that have transitioned from family businesses to multi-national firms—it still has a remarkable number of Buccellatis still working actively in the company.
The result of that is a jeweller, originally named after its founder, carried on by successors, and still led, in various key positions, by third and fourth generations of Buccellatis. At the opening of the exhibition in Shanghai, six members of the Buccellati family were present to share their family story.
Today, Andrea Buccellati is creative director and honorary president of the brand, and his daughter Lucrezia is part of the creative team; Maria Cristina Buccellati, sister of Andrea, leads global communications; Luca Buccellati, a cousin of Andrea and Maria Cristina, heads up special sales and VIP clients.
Though they mingled freely and conversed, ambassadorial, with the gathering of international journalists, the Buccellati family was evidently tight-knit. Between interview sessions and when there were lulls in the program, the family naturally gravitated to each other. Also present was CEO Nicolas Luchsinger, previously with Van Cleef & Arpels and Christie’s auction house, who joined Buccellati in 2024.
The realities of a family brand losing its identity to corporate sameness is not lost on Maria Cristina, whom I spoke with in Shanghai for an interview. Buccellati involvement in Buccellati itself ensures a kind of familial guardianship. To wit: the latest fourth-gen joiners include Filippo, a brand ambassador based in Dubai and due to move to Hong Kong in 2026, and Carolina, daughter of Luca, joined the company in 2025.
Perhaps that is why the jewels and creations from this brand have that rarest of qualities: an identifiable aesthetic signature consistent in both vintage and contemporary that you can spot almost instantly. When I suggest to Maria Cristina that part of the brand’s appeal to younger clients is its ‘ancient’ look, she protests gently. ‘Timeless’ is her preferred word, and she credits it to a consistency with image and a resistance to following trends. Perhaps she is right—if a design aesthetic is appealing as it is now as it was a century ago, ageless might be the better description.
Here, Maria Cristina chats about the confluence of family and work, the story behind the bestselling Macri collection named after her, and how she (eventually) came to love silver.
Buccellati has brought this exhibition from Venice to Shanghai. What’s changed in this edition?
We wanted China, or Asia in general, to be a little bit more aware of and deepen the knowledge of the brand. In Venice it wasn’t so deep because in Italy they know us. It’s more, I would say, a cultural way to introduce the brand, family and history to a country we’ve only been in for 10 years.
There’s a big focus on the family aspect. How does that feel for you?
For me it feels just like a normal job. I love it. I started working 40 years ago.
With Buccellati?
Of course! I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere else. My father wanted everybody there and it’s always been a passion rather than work. It feels, in a certain way, like we’re the guardians of the identity of the company. Here, we have an amazing CEO (Nicolas Luchsinger joined Buccellati in 2024) whom I adore, but also the family.
Do you think it’s quite scary for a new CEO to come in and work with so many members of the Buccellati family?
You should ask him! But he’s a fantastic person, extremely sophisticated and elegant, and we welcomed him. He respects us and we respect him. He’s very knowledgeable about jewellery because he worked for Christie’s before and then for Van Cleef. He went to see our artisans and asked technical things. It’s the first time my artisans came to me saying, “Cristina, it’s amazing! He’s so interested in the process of making and he knows things.” So I don’t know if he was scared, but for us it was welcome. We are very happy to have him.
The history on show in The Prince of Goldsmiths is also your family’s history. Was there anything new you learnt in the process?
Absolutely not. I grew up [with it], so I know it. We actually helped to create the exhibition with our knowledge. We have four people from my heritage team and now they probably know as much, if not more, as me. My team is all very young, so for me they’re all my sons and daughters. I love them. We’re a big family in every way. We’re the fourth generation now, but it’s not only us, the artisans also.
Because of the Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana? (Buccellati recently partnered with the Milanese jewellery school to create a master’s degree in goldsmithing.)
No, no. The artisan you saw working today, Alberto. His father used to work for my uncle, and his grandfather used to work for my grandfather. It’s a job that goes from one generation to another, you see, so there’s always this family link. We’re not family by name, but by passion.
There was a pair of bracelets that look almost identical, but one was done by Gianmaria Buccellati and the other by Federico Buccellati when the company was split. (In the 1970s, Mario Buccellati’s heirs split the business, with one branch focusing on Italy and the other taking the brand overseas. The two branches were rejoined in 2011.)
Wow. You know a lot, huh?
I’ve done my research [laughs]. I thought it was so striking that the style was so consistent, even though—
—even though there are two families. Because in the end, the same artisans were working for one or the other.
Timelessness is important, but we see through four generations of butterfly brooches that there is a stylistic evolution. How does Buccellati balance that?
We want to keep the codes and workmanship. Somebody might do something a little bit more modern, but it keeps the same techniques. There is an evolution in taste, but you still recognise that it’s a Buccellati—this is quite important. We launched hoop earrings, créoles we call it in French, that we never did before. So we’re getting modern in terms of shape but never giving up the style.
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Those earrings are from the Macri collection, which is named after you. I see that you’re wearing a Macri bracelet today as well. What’s the story behind that?
I was 16, and I used to go to my father’s office in the afternoon, and they would come out from the workshop with trays full of jewellery. One day I saw this bracelet— which is this, by the way, exactly this one—and said, “Dad, I love it. I want it.” He said “no”, and I said “what do you mean ‘no’?!” And he said “no, I cannot give it to you. You’re too young. I’ll give your name to the collection.” I wasn’t very happy. I preferred to have the bracelet than the name, whatever. Then he kept it and he gave it to me two years later when I turned 18.
Wow. I know you said you felt disappointed then that you only got the name, but many years later…
Well, I have something to say! It’s a nice story to tell.
And you’ve left your mark in Buccellati history.
And it’s interesting because it means I have a good eye. Macri is our bestselling collection and I picked the best one at 16.
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Buccellati has put emphasis on its silver recently. How did that happen?
We’ve done silverware since the beginning of the company. But I didn’t like silver at all. I had suitcases full of silver up in the cupboard and never touched them. Then suddenly after COVID, because we’d been alone and secluded, I realised that sharing moments with people at the table was one of the most beautiful things. It’s then when I started loving the silver, creating beautiful events and finally using it. So we decided not only to like it personally but to promote it. And we’re the only one who makes silver in the Richemont group, so they told us to work on it.
There’s really only one other jeweller that still does silver like that, which is Tiffany & Co. But most luxury jewellery brands are trying to downplay silver and push upmarket with gold.
Which is good for us, huh? I’m very happy.
Does that make you feel like you can really own this space?
I think we already do because it’s a different kind of silver. There’s a whole philosophy and lifestyle that we created. The Buccellati lifestyle is not only jewellery but how you receive people, how you set your table and how you decorate your home.
Will Buccellati consider going into other lifestyle categories?
[laughs] We have enough to do for the time being.
The January/February 2026 ‘Art’ edition of Vogue Singapore is available online and on newsstands.
