Thanks to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and her omnipresent cuffs, there couldn’t be a more iconic design in the Verdura oeuvre than the Byzantine-inspired Maltese Cross. And yet, you won’t find the look among the 10,000 sketches in the 72-year-old company archives. “This was an art project, if you will,” president Nico Landrigan says of Duke Fulco di Verdura’s revolutionary ’30s gold and semiprecious stone creation. “And he happened to be doing it for his buddy Gabrielle.” The brand revived the Maltese motif about a year and a half ago, and ­Landrigan says he “can’t imagine ever stopping” making pieces such as this handcrafted 18k gold pendant brooch (retail: $32,000, which includes a 19-inch chain). “How many stones are in any given one—30, 40? There are thousands of ways you could make this,” he muses. “Maybe we’ll do an all-diamond version next.” Broo