The Italian Cultural Institute of Beirut and the “Le Yacht Club-Beirut”, under the patronage of the Embassy of Italy in Beirut, are pleased to present the exhibition “DIVA! The Italian Glamour in Fashion Jewellery”, a journey dedicated to the excellence of Italian jewellery and its extraordinary ability to narrate society through style, creativity, and innovation.
Supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the exhibition aims to highlight a rich and diverse supply chain, ranging from major companies to family workshops, from independent bijoux creators to the most innovative designers. It illustrates a story shaped by aesthetic vision and production expertise, which succeeded in captivating international markets and the press in the post-war period and during the birth of Italian Style.
The exhibition brings together around two hundred pieces of jewellery—necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and more—which, from the years of the Dolce Vita to the new millennium, showcase the evolution of taste, materials, and production techniques. They reveal the unique interplay between craftsmanship, industry, design, and fashion. Italian fashion jewellery is distinguished not only by the intrinsic value of its materials, but by the intangible value of creativity, experimentation, and artisanal mastery—qualities that have made Made in Italy an international benchmark.
Through the names that have shaped the sector—from Unger and Borbonese to Coppola and Toppo, from Pellini to Sharra Pagano, and up to the leading figures of the 1980s and 1990s—“DIVA!” demonstrates how Italian jewellery captures the “spirit of the time,” playing with colour, imagination, irony, and unexpected materials.
The exhibition thus celebrates a cultural and industrial phenomenon that has helped build the global value of Italian fashion, keeping alive the tradition of artistic workshops and the Renaissance spirit that has long captivated creators, buyers, and international audiences.