Bal Harbour

102 BAL HARBOUR SINCE LAUNCHING IN 1984, Italian jewelry house Vhernier has become known for creating bold and sculptural pieces that blend a contemporary point-of-view with singularly old-world techniques. "It's a different kind of jewelry," says Vhernier president and CEO Carlo Traglio, a Milanese industrialist who acquired the fledgling brand in 2001 and transformed it into the international success that it is today. "It's fresh, unusual and very recognizable. You can tell immediately that a piece is Vhernier." Unlike some traditional fine jewelry that is more delicate or precious, Vhernier is inspired heavily by the worlds of architecture, art and design, incorporating sinuous shapes and substantial volumes, highlighted by a combination of materials such as bronze, ebony, African wood and jet, paired with stones sourced from all over the world. "Sometimes we start a new collection because we find a new material," says Traglio, who cites a recent discovery of a milky white agate, which is now being used for a reinterpretation of the Calla necklace, one of Vhernier's most iconic designs. "Or, for example, we started working with titanium, which is very complicated and much more difficult than gold or platinum. We mix titanium—quite a hefty material—with something like diamonds, and the combination is quite stunning." Traglio himself is very involved with the creative process, overseeing the core design team and larger group of highly skilled artisans who work out of Vhernier's ateliers in Velenza, Italy, a small village halfway between Milan and Turin, where every single piece Vibrant Vision Italian jeweler Vhernier brings its unmistakable designs to Bal Harbour Shops. By Amanda Eberstein Vhernier's new Rainbow cocktail rings, made of candy-colored titanium and cushion-cut stones.

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