Aldo Cipullo’s designs for Cartier have become synonymous with romance — he created the Love bracelet, after all. But the Italian designer, who conceived that jewel while reeling from heartbreak, believed love was a gamble. And what better metaphor for Cupid’s poker match than heart- and diamond-shaped earrings?
“With the card-playing series of jewels in the 1970s, Aldo began to view love as a game of chance,” says Cathy Glass, of Steven Fox Jewelry, which is offering a circa 1971 pair of the clip-ons on 1stDibs. “Also, at that time, he was influenced by collections Cartier had designed in the past, such as their beautiful playing cards in the 1930s and ’40s.”
The ear clips are crafted from 18-karat yellow gold and signed “A. Cipullo Cartier” on the back. Measuring seven-eights of an inch in width and one inch (in the case of the heart) or one and an eighth of an inch (for the diamond) in height, they are clean-lined and fluid, at once minimal and bold, evidence of Cipullo’s talent for elevating familiar motifs and everyday objects (see Juste un Clou) to objet d’art.
Backgammon was another source of inspiration for the designer. In Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern (ASSOULINE), Renato Cipullo, Aldo’s brother, recalls, “In 1972, Aldo introduced me to an exclusive place called Le Club, where you could have dinner, dance and play backgammon. At the time, we were all playing the game.” In 1973, Cartier introduced Cipullo’s interpretation of a backgammon board, rendered in gold and enamel in pendants and bracelets.
“Aldo designed his jewelry so it could be worn easily with more modern, cleaner styles,” Glass says. The diamond and heart earrings are “beautifully sculpted, smooth, weighty and tactile,” she points out, adding, “Those who understand and relate to Aldo’s opinion that love and life is a game of chance would see these spirited and eye-catching earrings as symbols of that philosophy.”
It’s true that love is risky, but a jewel by Cipullo for Cartier is always a win.
