On 7 April 2025, on the occasion of the National Made in Italy Day, an event dedicated to the Italian fashion and jewellery sector was held at the residence of the Italian Embassy in Madrid: 'Precious links, corals and cameos from Torre del Greco meet Madrid'. The event was organised in collaboration with the Associazione Italiana Imprenditori del Corallo e dei Cammei (Assocoral) and the Agenzia Italiana per il Commercio Estero (Ice) to highlight the excellence of Italian craftsmanship and reaffirm the strong ties that unite Italy and Spain, two countries with a deep history and a common tradition.
The evening, whose patroness was the Spanish actress and model Patricia Conde, allowed the invited audience (key figures in design, fashion and jewellery, as well as influential personalities in the sector, in addition to actresses and models) to learn more about six renowned companies in the sector: Antonino De Simone, Aucella, De Simone Fratelli, Evanueva, Grazia Mazza and Mattia Mazza.
First of all, Ambassador Giuseppe Buccino highlighted how 'the richness of the art of coral and cameos, as well as fostering new business opportunities between Spain and Italy - the Spanish market was the one with the highest growth among the top 5 buyer countries of Made in Italy products in 2024 - represents an opportunity to highlight the best of Italian industry and the excellence that our country represents in the world. "Italian savoir-faire, the beautiful and the well-made are condensed in the artisanal production of coral," the ambassador added, "becoming a symbol of Italian beauty and tradition, but also an example of how sustainability can go hand in hand with craftsmanship."
For his part, Assocoral president Vincenzo Aucella recalled 'the uniqueness that has transformed Torre del Greco, a town between Vesuvius and the Tyrrhenian Sea, into the world capital of coral and cameo-making, thanks also to the influence of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. Today, the tradition of this handicraft production is also protected through the request for inclusion among the Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) submitted to the Ministry of Made in Italy.
This was followed by a coral jewellery fashion show, thanks to the institutional collaboration with the Isabel Navarro agency (which selected the models), the IES Santa Engracia school (whose students did the models' make-up and hairstyling) and the European Institute of Design (IED) in Madrid, whose students dressed the models in creations inspired by Balenciaga's iconic babydolls.
The two jewellery sets chosen by each company were presented to the attentive and interested gaze of the sector experts present, who were also invited thanks to the collaboration with Madridjoya, the capital's main jewellery fair.
Finally, thanks to the Cologni Foundation, a young craftsman, a recent graduate from the Torre del Greco School of Coral and Cameo - the only one of its kind in the world - offered a live demonstration of the mastery required to make coral and cameo jewellery.
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