Americana is all the rage.
Maybe it’s the halo effect of our nation’s recent semiquincentennial or the renewed popularity of cowboy culture and Western-themed everything during this fiery Year of the Horse. But designers, both here and abroad, are embracing American motifs and themes more than ever.
One of the most charming, and idiosyncratic, takes on the trend comes by way of the Italian jeweler Francesca Villa, whose new “On the Road” capsule collection of luxe one-of-a-kind pendants and brooches—presented at the Couture show in Las Vegas—draws inspiration from vintage American truck pins and the mythical Great American Road Trip.
Take the 18k gold Fast Lane Pink Brooch, in which a yellow-green Gilson opal and mother-of-pearl inlay form the body and cab of a truck engulfed in enamel flames set with multicolored sapphires. Or the Scenic Route necklace, which depicts a lapis truck cruising through a Western landscape of Paesina stone, inside a large rectangular white gold frame set with diamonds and sapphires. On the back, a postcard engraving reads Enjoy the journey! Love, Francesca.
An ode to the speed, freedom, and mythology of the American road trip, the pieces boast the same irreverence that characterized “The Wrestlers,” Villa’s 2025 capsule collection of rings inspired by Los Luchadores, the Mexican wrestlers known for their colorful masks and aerial antics.
“At the heart of the collection lies a reflection on a theme that has long fascinated generations: the road as a metaphor for life itself,” according to a press statement. “The open highway represents freedom, possibility, and the pursuit of something just beyond the horizon. ‘On the Road’ celebrates the journey rather than the destination—the miles traveled, the encounters along the way, and the shifting landscapes that shape us as we move forward.”
In Villa, Jack Kerouac, author of the 1957 cult classic that lends its name to her collection, would surely find a kindred spirit. “As we crossed the Colorado-Utah border,” he wrote in On the Road, “I saw God in the sky in the form of huge gold sunburning clouds above the desert that seemed to point a finger at me and say, ‘Pass here and go on, you’re on the road to heaven.’”
Villa’s evocative collection suggests the same holds true in gold and diamonds.
Top: Fast Lane Pink Brooch in 18k pink and white gold with diamonds, rubies, and blue sapphires, $15,690, Francesca Villa
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