"Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern" by Assouline. 

Rarely are icons created. But Cartier's Love Bracelet is one such - beloved and coveted. The latest book from art book publisher Assouline traces the story of its creator, Aldo Cipullo, as well as his other creations.

The Love Bracelet can be opened and closed only by two people with the help of a small screwdriver. Another person, a "lover", is always needed. The screwdriver can also be worn as a necklace. Hardly any piece of jewelry is more romantic and iconic than the Cartier Love Bracelet. 

Aldo Cipullo

Courtesy Renato Cipullo All Rights Reserved

Aldo Cipullo was born in Naples in 1935 to a family of jewelers and became the most glamorous jewelry designer of the 1970s and early 80s. Aldo Cipullo left Italy for the exciting opportunities of life in New York City and enrolled at the School of Visual Arts. Beginning in 1960, he worked for renowned jeweler David Webb, known for his bold and expressive designs, before moving to Tiffany & Co. where he began to develop his own formal language.

In 1969, he moved to Cartier alongside president Michael Thomas, where he was a master of his craft and introduced the Love bracelet, a groundbreaking design. In 1971, he followed up with the Nail collection, inspired by a nail wrapped around the finger or wrist, a creation that embodied the gritty glamour of New York at the time.

Aldo Cipullo set up his own business in 1974 and continued to create eye-catching jewelry for men and women, including pieces in the shape of the dollar sign, which he described as "the electric eye that reflects the mood of this country." In 1978, the American Gem Society commissioned him to design a collection of American-mined stones such as turquoise from Arizona, diamonds from Arkansas and sapphires from Montana; these pieces are now in the Smithsonian Institution. Despite his sudden death in 1984, Aldo Cipullo's legacy of forward-thinking yet classic designs continues to enjoy great popularity.

The Assouline art book is filled with striking images of Aldo Cipullo's modern jewelry designs that are both iconic and universal, intimate yet deeply personal, contemporary and timeless. Accented with photographs of the Cipullo family and loving anecdotes from Aldo's friends, Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern unfolds the story of one of the most innovative and, to this day, enigmatic talents in modern jewelry history.

The preface was written by his brother the New York designer Renato Cipullo, who owns a jewelry house in New York. Renato Cipullo not only designs jewelry collections, but his creations are worn by royalty and celebrities, and are among an extensive list of private clients around the world who regularly commission him for the complexity of his custom designs. In the 1980s, he created the Midnight watch, for which he has been called the father of high-tech accessories.

Author Vivienne Becker is an award-winning journalist, jewelry historian and editor of the Financial Times' "How to Spend It" magazine. Becker's previous books for Assouline include De Beers Jewellery (2011), The Impossible Collection of Jewelry (2012), Sevan Bıçakçı (2014), The Pearl Necklace (2016), Bulgari: The Joy of Gems-Magnificent High Jewelry Creations (2017), De Grisogono: Daring Creativity (2017), and Sevan Bıçakçı: The Timekeeper (2018).

Cipullo : The Man Who Made Jewlry Modern

$195.00

www.assouline.com