Percossi Papi

Since 1968 Diego Percossi Papi has been creating jewellery in a small atelier in the old part of Rome. This is jewellery which pinpoints the charm in tradition, the extraordinary within the ordinary and the magic of colour. It’s a story of research, experimentation and expression, told by the master craftsman himself ·

words Livia Tenuta

Diego Percossi Papi

It really is magical working with people of a high professional level. For Lee Tamahori’s latest film, Emperor, he was told: ‘Make the jewellery first, then we’ll make the right costumes to wear it with’ this explains the relationship based on utter mutual respect.’ What is it that makes Percossi Papi jewellery instantly recognisable? “It has a very specific identity, which comes from my background – explains Diego Percossi Papi, who runs the company with his wife Maria Teresa and their children Valeria and Giuliano – I’ve always lived in the centre of Rome, surrounded by extraordinary architecture which became my first source of inspiration. He has a natural talent and is completely self-taught, never having studied design, so he decided to adopt an emotional approach. “Colour comes first, every time, it brings emotional and sensorial with it; then comes the study of symbols and the rationality of attention to detail. Our jewellery speaks to people through the use of enamel, coloured stones which become unique by means of colour juxtaposition and formal study.”

Inspiration meets taste

Percossi Papi loves history, architecture and transposes his memories and ideas onto materials. “It isn’t a chore to fit contemporary tastes, it’s more of a feeling and form of expression. When I have to make a piece for a client, that moment makes that piece of jewellery a one-off example. The person is with me and I always try to imagine which colour would tell their story. From there I start to build up the rest, with continuous inventiveness, always looking ahead while keeping in mind the memory of what we are and employing the distinguishing characteristics of our jewellery as the foundations: enamel, coloured stones in a pavé setting and careful selection of materials.”

Passionate aficionados 

“Our target market has a strong identity,” explains Percossi Papi, “we’re talking about people who have the ability to read the culture and history encapsulated in our unique, non-uniform  creations experience themselves. The same goes for jewellery we make for films.”

Movies

This Rome-based goldsmith has created many pieces of costume jewellery for period films such as ‘Luisa Sanfelice’ by the Taviani brothers and ‘Elizabeth’ by Shekar Kapur. The first steps taken in the film world with ‘Rossini! Rossini!’ directed by Mario Monicelli and subsequently for Sophia Loren (and Gianfranco Giannini) in ‘Francesca e Nunziata’ by Lina Wertmuller and for Cate Blanchet in ‘Elizabeth: the Golden Age’, which won an Oscar for the costumes.

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