The Jewel in Spanish Dominance

The arrival of the Catalan-Aragonese changed the face of Sardinia once again: from 1326 onward, along with people (soldiers, merchants, officials, goldsmiths, and silversmiths, etc.), goods, ideas, and fashions from Spain arrived, involving the local population and influencing their tastes and habits. Compared to the medieval period, in the 1500s the activity of silversmiths and goldsmiths in Sassari and Cagliari is documented, experts in the production of liturgical furnishings and the jewelry that adorned the saints’ statues, as well as domestic silverware and personal adornments reserved for the wealthier classes.

The Kingdom of Sardinia Passes to the Savoy

When the Kingdom of Sardinia was ceded to the Savoy family in 1720, a strong cultural distrust was felt between the Sardinians and the Piedmontese. Although Cagliari was the capital of the kingdom, the Savoy court preferred to maintain its residence in Turin, which was closer to European kingdoms and thus more convenient from a diplomatic perspective. Nevertheless, the coexistence with the Piedmontese kingdom contributed to a new cultural ferment, in fashion and craftsmanship: we have reliable sources on the trousseaux of Sassari and Cagliari citizens, which included primarily rings, always in quantities greater than one, made of gold with semi-precious stones arranged in a rosette, but also with white stones, in the so-called “French” model, or the traditional “manu e fedi” or “recordo” model, with three circles and a heart-shaped gem, or the “laso” model, with a bow. By the end of the century, the most common rings were those with garnets, also paired with necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, often in matching sets. The rings of the wealthiest young women were embellished with expensive gems such as emeralds or diamonds.

How Does Sardinian Jewelry Evolve in the Contemporary World?

In the early 1900s, a sort of detachment occurred in the production of jewelry in Sardinia: on one hand, fashion became more daring, starting with the voluptuous forms of the Liberty-floral style and the minimalism of the following decades, in a radical renewal of popular costumes. On the other hand, Sardinian goldsmithing crystallized around traditional jewelry, whose style was passed down through families and local goldsmith shops, focusing on the codification of traditional Sardinian jewelry, characterized by a unique mix of Byzantine geometries, baroque Spanish-inspired curves, strong connections with the island’s ancestral magic and materials such as black onyx and coral.

In the post-World War II era, there were formal experiments by numerous artist-goldsmiths, such as painter Verdina Pensè – involved in the Coral School in Alghero in the 1950s – or artists Maria Lai – who preferred hammered silver wire work and embossed plates – and Costantino Nivola – who adapted his plastic research to a “scale” more suitable for jewelry. Other goldsmiths, like Vincenzo Marini, associated with the Art Institute of Sassari, revived ancient artisanal techniques like gold wire work, blending them with the recovery of local precious stones – obsidian, amethyst, chalcedony – to explore new compositional solutions. Alongside the innovations of the 20th century, the traditional jewelry craftsmanship remains steadfast, still allowing for the classic forms such as the Sardinian band ring, made of silver filigree or gold, popular for engagements, weddings, or the birth of a child.