How I Got Here: Renato Cipullo’s Life in Jewelry Epitomizes ‘Amor Fati’

Renato Cipullo takes inspiration for his jewelry collections from the things he loves: nature, antiquity, the Renaissance, and, above all, Italy—a place he calls home as well as the root of all of his designs.

One of his latest collections, Amor Fati, is the apex of those ideas. The Latin phrase translates to “love of one’s fate,” or “love life as it is.” It is the acceptance of everything that happens in our lives—good, bad, or, as Cipullo puts it, necessary.

Cipullo created the Amor Fati collection with his daughter, Serena. Together, they wanted the collection to symbolize the past and present generations of their family—all of whom are “fated for jewelry,” he says.

For example, Cipullo’s brother Aldo designed Cartier’s iconic Love bracelet, one of the most recognizable jewelry designs of all time. Aldo’s work is more minimalist, while Cipullo says his work is about Italian tradition.

The Amor Fati collection uses motifs for fortune as well as Italian symbols of superstition. It incorporates mixed metals, tons of texture, and a gender-neutral style to tell its story, Cipullo says. Plus, he gets to work with his family again.

“Maintaining the ideals of a family business and including a younger perspective helps continue the legacy and keep the jewelry evolving,” Cipullo says.

But let’s start from the beginning. Cipullo was born in Naples, where he was born near a tiny square that was part of a street nicknamed “Via degli Orefici,” which means “street of the jewelers.”

“There were jewelry artisans all along, facing the street. This exposure would become my first jewelry memory,” Cipullo says.

His family moved to Rome when Cipullo was 6 and his father started a jewelry business. His father first sold coral from the seaside city of Torre del Greco, which led him into costume jewelry and later fine jewelry such as “mine” charms and mariner chains (now commonly known as the Gucci link).

Cipullo says his father also was also known as the largest importer of Mallorca pearls, sterling silver compacts, and accessories.

“All of us children worked for him in one way or another after school. This was the seed for all of us entering the jewelry world and starting our own fine or costume jewelry businesses,” Cipullo says. “I left school when was I was 14 because I had already begun working for my father, assembling jewelry, and I had also started making jewelry models of my own.”

Working for his father, Cipullo says he learned how things worked mechanically and technically from the perspective of a jeweler, as well as how to run a production team alongside his siblings Aldo, Eduardo, Maria Rosaria, and Enrico.

“Instead of going to college, I continued to work for my father and allowed my personal curiosities to guide me in learning various subjects independently. My personal creative interests involved designing a collection of belts,” Cipullo says. “This was the era of la dolce vita in Rome, so I was enjoying myself socially and experiencing a very exciting period—spending time with artists and creatives and developing what inspired me.”

Cipullo says he chose to leave his father’s company in 1964 and join Aldo in New York City. What started as a visit to see the World’s Fair turned into a new part of Cipullo’s career. He worked at a furniture and restoration shop and, at night, designed Christmas cards for a period.

“Aldo had already worked for David Webb, and that continued friendship afforded me a job working for David in his workshop,” Cipullo says.

With the Vietnam War and a possible draft looming, Cipullo returned to Italy, where he briefly went into business with his brother Eduardo. He then fell in love with the island of Ischia, opening a boutique there in 1967. Mare Uno was his sole departure from jewelry and a venture into men’s and women’s clothing and accessories.

“The boutique was a labor of love where I designed the entire interior. I had belts and boleros I designed, with clients like Marisa Berenson and other celebrities,” Cipullo says.

Later, in the 1980s, when the price of gold was high for the time, he pivoted to focus on his love of watches and designed various watch collections. He also had a Western collection, which was detailed with embossed leather and mother-of-pearl or cork faces, and he was the first to design the all-black “Midnight” watch.

“I realize my timeline is unique, given the period I was born and raised in,” Cipullo says. “The exposure I had at a very young age, as well as the extensive involvement in our family business, inspired and motivated me to channel my creativity into my own collections later on. You could say my luggage is rich with working life experience.”

Top: Renato Cipullo comes from a family of jewelers but he also loves watches and other accessories. (Photos courtesy of Renato Cipullo)