Carolina Bucci

Biography

Carolina Bucci (born 1976) is an Italian jewellery designer. Born in Florence, Italy, she lives between London, UK and New York City, United States. Her workshop is based in Florence.

Carolina is the 4th generation of jewellers. In 1885, Carolina Bucci’s great-grandfather, Ferdinando Bucci, opened a workshop in Florence specializing in the sale and repair of gentlemen’s pocket watches. He eventually began to make bespoke gold chains to accessorize his clients’ timepieces, and from there he moved into the production of fine jewellery. His son, Fosco, took over the business in 1920, by which point they had gained great success across Italy, and moved the showroom to Piazza Santo Stefano, next to Florence’s fashionable Ponte Vecchio, the hub of artisans and goldsmiths.

After the Second World War, Carolina’s father grew the business internationally, particularly in the US and Japan, whilst continuing to anchor the manufacture of the jewellery in the family’s Florentine workshops.

Carolina took over is now the creative director of the business, having studied at FIT, and creates modern wearable everyday luxury pieces.

When she returned to Florence upon her graduation, she worked alongside local goldsmiths encouraging them to push the boundaries of their traditional practices to create her first collections, ‘Lucky’ (a luxury reinvention of the friendship bracelets she made as a child) and then ‘Woven’, which saw her reinvent centuries-old Florentine textile looms to weave gold and silk threads, becoming two of her trademark collections; the third being her signature ‘Florentine Finish’ as seen on the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold watches.

Her brand has become synonymous with Italian craftsmanship and innovative luxury, resulting in a selection of her designs being showcased in the permanent jewellery collection of the Palazzo Pitti Museum in Florence.

In 2007 she established her London flagship store, and since then has aligned with retailers such as Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman, Lane Crawford, Colette, Luisa Via Roma, and many more.

In 2003 UK Vogue featured a cover photo of Salma Hayek wearing Bucci's necklace, which led to Bucci developing her first non-US retailer—London's multi-brand store Browns. The jewelry is available in Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman, Lane Crawford, Colette, Luisa Via Roma and other stores. Bucci opened a flagship store in Belgravia London in 2007, and a second in Porto Montenegro in 2011. In 2013, Carolina Bucci was chosen to be a Brand Ambassador for Tod's No_Code

Collaborations In 2016 Carolina announced her collaboration with Audemars Piguet, reinventing their signature Royal Oak watch with her signature Florentine Finish to celebrate the watch’s 40th anniversary.

Charitable Collaborations

Charitable Collaborations Bucci has produced an annual limited edition collection that is designed to benefit a selected charity. In 2008, the collaboration was with WaterAid, and in 2009, with Global Action for Children. 2010's collaboration was with (RED) with profits going to The Global Fund to help fight AIDS in Africa.

In 2016 she launched a collaboration with Great Ormond Street Hospital, reinventing one of her signature Lucky bracelets with 100% of profits being donated to support the children and their families. , as well as creating a special edition ‘twister’ bracelet to benefit the NSPCC