Since the company’s founding by Italian Duke Fulco Verdura in 1939, the maison’s designs have graced a bevy of famed characters, including some of the world’s most legendary women: fashion designer Coco Chanel, society swans Babe Paley and Slim Keith, and Hollywood screen stars Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn, among many others.

It’s a history that Verdura’s current owners Ward Landrigan and his son Nico Landrigan, the brand’s new worldwide president, are keeping alive and well, especially given that the brand is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Fulco Verdura’s New York Salon.

Nico Landrigan is unveiling 37 new designs in the Verdura Fall catalog, including a re-creation of the original Verdura cuff bracelets worn by Coco Chanel, the legendary designer who helped to kick-start Fulco Verdura’s career.

“There’s never a dull day at Verdura,” Landrigan said at the Verdura showroom on a brisk fall morning. “Even when we think we’re going about business as usual, we end up being approached frequently with proposals and new ideas. A lot of our focus this year has been on going back into our archives.”

The company’s archives are a treasure indeed. About 25 years back, when Ward Landrigan purchased the company, one of the conditions of sale was that he wasn’t allowed to see the original drawings that Fulco Verdura and his team painted onto vellum sheets as visual references of all their jeweled creations.

Instantly recognizable in their bold form and featuring Verdura’s signature use of color with which he broke free from the Art Deco staples of the precious three hues, the re-created cuffs feature 18-karat gold and are set with emerald, amethyst, ruby, sapphire, citrine, aquamarine and garnet.

With the recent release of the movie Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tatou, the cuffs are poised to generate a flurry of interest.

Full report: www.nationaljewelernetwork.com

www.verdura.com