Coin artist

They call rubies the “lord of the gemstones.” Legend has it that the prized red stone has been treasured by royalty for centuries in different cultures and religions. Ancient traditions ascribe health, wisdom and wealth to wearers of rubies; long life, prosperity and happiness were also consequences of wearing this blood-colored gem. It is also said to be magical: Burmese warriors supposedly inserted small pieces of the stone under the skin to protect themselves from injury and to effect a certain invincibility.

The Italian jewelry designer Roberto Coin was inspired so much by these legends that he decided to make the ruby his signature, setting a small ruby into each of his jewelry pieces, on the inside to assure skin contact. And his decision couldn’t have been more inspired. Four years after the Italian brand launched into the market, Roberto Coin became the seventh best-known jewelry brand in the United States and the number one Italian jewelry brand in the same market.

It may have had something to do with the rubies or it could have had something to do with Roberto Coin’s designs: bold pieces that combine Venezian craftsmanship with new-world technology and modern design. According to Philip Grima, Roberto Coin’s Asia and Pacific sales director, the brand comes up with 400 to 600 jewelry collections each year, each one, amazingly enough, distinctive from the other. Using gold, diamonds and precious stones, Roberto Coin serves up a bevy of pieces that both flabbergast and incite desire.

Of these hundreds, only a handful are available in the Philippine market, by way of Silver Vault in Rustan’s. What is available, however, gives a well-defined sense of the Roberto Coin philosophy. These are jewelry pieces that attract attention, but with audacious aesthetics rather than any cognizable symbol. “Our aim is not to be a logo mark on someone’s arm, wrist, neck or ears,” says Grima. Which just goes to say that those who buy Roberto Coin buy for themselves, to assuage a personal style objective, and not to effect a sense of show or brand association.

And in Manila, where recessionist shopping and the frugal fashionista are du jour, people are still buying Roberto Coin, despite prices that average in six figures. “Our product has a certain intrinsic value,” explains Grima. “People may be ashamed about buying a car or spending for an extravagant holiday, but jewelry has a surety in its value. There is some stability in buying jewelry because jewelry is worth something.”

The investment however, as Grima expounds, also goes beyond monetary values. “The investment is really in your own pleasure.” After all, if you are to believe the legend of the ruby, with a Roberto Coin piece, you get more than you bargained — or maybe not bargained — for.

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Roberto Coin is distributed by Rustan Commercial Corporation and is available at the Silver Vault, Rustan’s Makati, Shangri-La Plaza and Alabang Town Center.

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