Compressed Spring 2026 Issue - Flipbook - Page 30
Rock Star
Amedeo Eternal
Devotion sardonyx
shell cameo-pendant
with amethyst and
yellow sapphires
in 18k yellow gold
and sterling silver;
$10,950;
amedeo.shop
Amedeo
Scognamiglio
THE
NEW
WOR LD
Amedeo Scognamiglio’s work bridges
two brands, multiple countries, and a
centuries-old tradition
BY TANYA DUKES
26 SPRING 2026
Faraone Mennella
Fireworks earrings
with 11.97 ct. t.w.
diamonds in 18k
yellow gold and blue
titanium; $60,500;
faraonemennella.com
T
he next time Hollywood is in the market
for a must-see biopic, The Amedeo
Scognamiglio Story would make for exceptional cinema. It has all the ingredients of
a blockbuster: twists of fate, a love story,
overnight success, and celebrity cameos, all playing out
in visually striking locations—Italy, Manhattan, Dubai.
Unfolding in Torre del Greco, Italy, a small city outside Naples, the movie follows the career of our hero,
Amedeo Scognamiglio, a sixth-generation jewelrymaker, bound for a life of jewelry craft and design.
This choice wasn’t an obligation, but “a calling,”
Scognamiglio now says. He taught himself to create
carved shell cameos in traditional motifs—women in
profile, scenes from antiquity—like the ones his father’s
company sold. By the time he was 15, he was a master of
the craft. After college, he immediately set out for New
York City to seek his fortune.
His best friend, Roberto Faraone Mennella, followed
the same route from Italy to the Big Apple to study at
Parsons School of Design, and the pair hatched a plan
to create a jewelry brand together. Their mission?
“We wanted jewelry that was light, showing some
skin, [and] designed with openwork, like big hoops,”
according to Scognamiglio. Stella, the 18-piece first
collection from their new brand, Faraone Mennella, felt
effortless, cool, and like the victim of spectacularly poor
GEMANDJEWEL.COM
