Capricudi: The New Myth by Chantecler and Roberto di Alicudi

An accord of myths: that’s how we like to describe Chantecler’s new capsule collection, born from the collaboration with artist Roberto of Alicudi and presented on May 13th at the boutique on Via Santo Spirito in Milan. The project forges a union between two artistic visions which, though rooted in distant latitudes, converge in a single, dreamlike aesthetic universe. Every great maison, by virtue of the heritage it holds, carries the responsibility of fostering culture, of giving voice to forgotten stories and visibility to original imaginaries. Chantecler has consistently embraced this role, choosing to champion the richness of the most authentic Capri, far removed from glamour and spectacle: the island of legends and evocations, of sirens and sea stacks. A territory told over time through various initiatives and, naturally, through jewelry, designed to serve as symbolic vessels of emotion and identity. The new capsule collection is its latest expression. Chantecler has chosen an artist outside the usual circuits, a painter of acute sensitivity who has made the most remote of the Aeolian Islands his home. Alicudi is a place suspended in time, silent, charged with energy, where distances are measured in steps, steps climbed to reach ever higher peaks from which the gaze opens into infinity. For his works, Roberto uses the ancient oil-on-glass painting technique of the Sicilian Pincisanti. A centuries-old craft that demands utmost precision: the glass is painted in reverse, beginning with the foreground details and ending with the background. A meticulous process that forces the artist to reverse the order of creation, rendering the minutiae before the surface, to achieve luminous, smooth images of striking depth. For Chantecler, he has so far created two pieces in titanium and rose gold, each one encapsulating a deep passion for the sea and the powerful messages nature entrusts to us. The Alicudi earrings contain, within two round hand-painted glass cabochons, the image of a mermaid with a star, archetypes of freedom and desire. The Alicudi brooch, meanwhile, features an oval glass piece that reveals a blue lizard, the legendary inhabitant of the Faraglioni and an apotropaic symbol of the Mediterranean world.

«Since I was a child,» Roberto says, «the Chantecler window represented an entrance into a world of fantasy. Chantecler’s jewels are portals of imagination, they tell stories, evoke symbolic figures and legends, just as I hope to do with my paintings. With this collaboration, I have the chance to reconnect with that imaginative universe. It’s another way to rediscover the original magic of the Blue Island, condensed into just a few centimeters of ancient glass. What binds me to Maria Elena Aprea (Chantecler’s Creative Director) is a shared drive toward imaginary life. We both inhabit the realm of dreams. I hope this collection serves as an invitation to fuga Mundi, an encouragement to nourish the lighter, more joyful side of ourselves.» The project is only beginning. Other paintings await their precious frames, ready to complete that ideal bridge between Capri and Alicudi — or better yet, that imagined land the artist calls “Capricudi.” A place not found on nautical maps, but one that can now be worn.