Angelo Accardi

Italian jeweler Cazzaniga is a family-run business that creates exquisite pieces. Influenced by Renaissance, Byzantine, Florentine and Classical Roman styles, its necklaces, earrings and other pieces of jewelry are expertly crafted to feature dazzling gemstones and sculpted gold for a look of refined opulence.

Cazzaniga’s visual cornucopia of designs reflects its decades in the business as one of the best-known jewelers based in Italy. Distinguished collectors have long flocked to Cazzaniga, including the late Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly, who was often seen wearing a Cazzaniga ruby and diamond gold brooch.

Giorgio Cazzaniga founded the Cazzaniga jewelry firm in 1920. Originally, it was located on the via della Stamperia, near the Trevi Fountain, in Rome. In 1942, the company relocated its workshop to the Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina, where it subsequently opened a storefront.

In 1963, Cazzaniga moved to the via Frattina, where the company would remain until the death of its founder in 1976. Both of Cazzaniga’s sons continued the family business. Paolo Cazzaniga opened his own location under the family name in 1973 in Rome. Roberto Cazzaniga started a new business in New York in 1979, though it closed two years later.

Today, Cazzaniga continues to create pieces that are coveted the world over.

“Something new yet immediately recognizable” is how Paolo Cazzaniga describes its work, which is steeped in Mediterranean culture. Paolo’s wearable perfume bottles are especially sought after, as he believes that ordinary objects found in a woman’s handbag should be adorned and celebrated as much as the woman who uses them.

On 1stDibs, find a selection of Cazzaniga necklaces, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry.

Today, antique and vintage bracelets are versatile and universally loved accessories that can add polish and pizzazz to any ensemble.

Bracelets were among the jewels discovered to have been buried with Pharaoh Tutankhamun when his tomb was unearthed in 1922, and wrist and arm bracelets were allegedly worn by Queen Puabi in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia. But preceding the adornments of Ancient Egypt and elsewhere, the people of prehistoric times likely wore the decorative accessory, fashioning it from shells and fish bones. When the Bronze Age allowed for more durable materials and semiprecious stones to be incorporated into jewelry, bracelets became a treasured symbol of wealth.

In the thousands of years following the debut of the world’s first bracelets, the artistry behind this common accessory has only broadened, with designers at popular jewelry houses growing more venturesome over time. David Webb looked to nature for his Animal Kingdom bracelets, and for her best-selling bracelets and more at Tiffany & Co., Elsa Peretti would frequently do the same. From bangles to tennis bracelets, the modern age offers plenty of options.

Internationally acclaimed bracelet designs have on occasion become powerful symbols of status, style and, in the case of Cartier's iconic design, love. The Cartier Love bracelet can be found on the wish list of most jewelry lovers and on the wrist of some of the world’s biggest stars. Its arrangement of mock screwheads and distinctive functionality — it was initially locked and unlocked with an accompanying vermeil screwdriver — is an enduring expression of loyalty, unity and romance. (Do you know how to spot a fake Cartier Love bracelet?)

While the Love bracelet has played a role in the skyrocketing popularity of cuff-style bracelets, they are far from the only glamorous option for collectors. Make a statement with an Art Deco design, a style that sees all kinds of iterations fitted with studded cuffs, one-of-a-kind shapes and dazzling insets. A chunky vintage gold bracelet in the Retro style will prove eye-catching and elevate any outfit.

One of the best things about bracelets, however, is that you never have to choose just one. Style icon Jacqueline Kennedy stacked her Croisillon bracelets — designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. — with such frequency that the ornate bangles were eventually dubbed “Jackie bracelets” by reporters. Contemporary silver pieces can easily complement each other, rendering a layering of luxury almost a necessity.

Find a diverse collection of bracelets that you can sort by style, stone cut and more on 1stDibs.