Renato Cipullo’s new Memento Amori collection uses jewelry’s eternal beauty to cheekily remind the wearer to embrace life in the moment, since love, fame, and power can be fleeting.
The collection’s name plays on the Latin term memento mori, a reminder of our mortality. It was also inspired by a favorite phrase of Cipullo’s in his native Italian, “Goditi la vita perché è bella”—a way of telling us life is beautiful when you enjoy it.
“Live life to the fullest,” Cipullo says. “So it is to romanticize the concept of remembrance and represent more of a balance of morbidity and the beauty of life and death.”
The jewels in Memento Amori are made in 18k gold or sterling silver, with precious and semiprecious accents. Among them are onyx cross and bejeweled skull pendants and a haunting Memento Mori ring with a carved coral skull.
The collection—which is available on the Renato Cipullo website and at Maxfield Los Angeles—also includes objet d’art accessories such as pens, letter openers, and magnifiers. Designed to showcase the brand’s craftsmanship, they have a substantial feel ideal for an executive’s desk in the corner office.
Cipullo started making desk accessories along with his signature jewelry in the 1980s. Those pieces were minimalist and reflected the sleek, “high-tech” style of that decade, he says, while Memento Amori is more about wit, poetry, and meaning.
The idea for Memento Amori was sparked by a damaged magnifying glass Cipullo found at a New York City flea market—one of his “great finds” from trips to antique shops, consignment stores, and the like.
“I like to find beautiful things that are old and unusual. Items like clocks and letter openers—anything that appeals to my taste and shows the craftsmanship that once was,” he says.
“I have many great finds, but a couple special favorites are a micromosaic of a gondola on the Ponte Rialto as well as a mosaico fiorentino [Florentine mosaic] of Dante Alighieri reading a book in marble, which is very well done—I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He also mentions “a large St. Mark’s lion sculpture on the wall in the showroom that is originally from a Palladian villa in Veneto, which I found at the market in Vicenza. It adds a beautiful touch of old world into our more contemporary space.”
With Memento Amori, Cipullo has blended his fascination with antiques and Roman history with his design aesthetic and mortality symbolism in everyday objects.
Take the Ruby Skull Pen for example. It serves the simple purpose of writing that any pen does, but Cipullo gave it a sterling silver clip lined with three skulls, all with cabochon ruby eyes. Those eyes stare at the pen’s user, reminding them that the letter they’re writing or contract they’re signing could have ramifications that last well beyond death.
Both the jewelry and accessories stem from a love of beautiful objects, whether they’re ones you wear or keep on your desk or nightstand, says Cipullo.
“The craftsmanship and quality of materials is something someone who loves jewelry should also appreciate in the objects they surround themselves with,” he says. “Each object is designed and made with love and is meant to feel special in the same way as when you discover something at a market or antique shop. Nothing is mass produced.”
Top: In addition to jewelry, Renato Cipullo’s Memento Amori collection includes accessories like the Ruby Skull Pen ($5,750) and the Hand Magnifier ($1,950). (Photos courtesy of Renato Cipullo)
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