Behind the Scenes at the Mattioli Jewellery Factory in Turin

- Where also many Cartier, Tiffany, and Louis Vuitton creations come to life

Recently, we had the incredible opportunity to visit the Mattioli jewellery factory in Turin, one of our favorite partners. Our love affair with Mattioli jewellery began many years ago at a professional exhibition, and we've proudly carried the brand at Pavé Jewellery for over a decade. It's not just the sleek, tasteful, and stylish designs that captivate us but also the exquisite craftsmanship, perfect detailing, and comfortable fit of each piece.

The quality of Mattioli jewellery speaks for itself: they produce jewellery under contract for some of the biggest names in the industry, including Cartier and Tiffany, and continuously manufacture pieces for several other global luxury brands. The Mattioli factory feels more like a laboratory, workers in uniforms operate in pristine conditions with unmatched professionalism.

We’d like to take you on a virtual tour and show you what happens behind the scenes, revealing how these stunning jewellery pieces are crafted. Come along with us!

Modeling and preparing jewellery for casting

Mattioli jewellery is primarily created using traditional techniques, such as rubber molds and wax models. Imagine the prototype and its individual components being encased in rubber, creating a negative imprint that is preserved for future production to ensure exact replication of the original design.

Liquid wax is then injected into the rubber mold through a small opening, allowed to cool and harden, and finally removed as a wax model. This wax model is then used to create the gold mold.

Casting individual wax models in gold would be inefficient, so to optimize the process, several models are grouped into a "bouquet" by attaching them to a central trunk. From this "bouquet," a gold "tree" is cast, and individual components are cut off and refined separately. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Before casting, the wax bouquet is placed in a cylindrical mold and covered with plaster. After the plaster hardens, the mold is heated in a furnace to melt and drain the wax. The resulting cavity is then filled with molten gold.

Casting and finishing the jewellery

The gold is poured using a specialized casting machine. Once the liquid gold solidifies, the plaster mold is broken apart to extract the gold "tree", from which the ready-to-finish models and components are cut off. The remaining trunk and scrap gold are then recycled.

This is where the meticulous hand-finishing begins, involving precise craftsmanship. One of the key steps in jewellery finishing is fine polishing, which is performed in several stages, both before and after stone setting. The gemstones are set under a microscope; in the case of micro pavé settings, stones smaller than 1 mm are meticulously placed by hand into tiny prongs, a process we had the chance to watch on a monitor.

Branding and quality control of the jewellery

In the final stages, the brand’s markings are laser engraved onto each piece. The last step is stringent quality control, where every piece is thoroughly inspected to ensure that only flawless jewellery leaves the factory.

Now all that’s left is to choose from these stunning creations! Which of these beauties would you like to make yours?