Studying at Maestro Dari in Florence, Italy

Three years ago, when I was studying jewelry in Florence at Alchimia Contemporary Jewelry School, I was out for a walk when I saw a beautiful gothic interior in the corner of my eye. It was a jewelry shop, but different. I remember being amazed by the beauty of its space and the energy that was around it… I felt dizzy just like after a glass of wine…

The jewelry that was on display at this store was so otherworldly and had a special expressiveness as if each piece carried something from the past.

 

By an entryway, I noticed a photograph that showed Maestro Alessandro Dari along with several students wearing aprons. I understood, at that moment, that there was also Maestro’s Jewelry School. I knew at that moment that fate had brought me to the Bottega on that day and that I would want to study with Maestro Dari.

 

After I finished my studies at Alchimia, I studied at Maestro Dari for a transforming week in which I discovered that I could create things that I had never dreamt of. The magic of this experience left me speechless.

 

The School and Maestro displayed the perfect combination of professionalism, magic, and mystery- exactly the things that I was looking to find in a jewelry school, and a mentor.

 

Despite our language discrepancies,  Maestro Dari managed to bring out things that I did not know existed, things that I didn’t know I could do with these hands of mine, with my soul and mind.

 

I loved every second there, even if it was just for a week, from morning till late evening and the time spent at school never seemed to be enough.

On my last day at the Bottega Orafa,  I told Maestro Dari that I would come back in a few years. He told me with the deepest serenity, as if I was about to come back in a month, that I will study ‘delle forme in movimento’ in wax.

 

Yes… it was amazing!

 

If you ever visit Florence, don’t hesitate to pass by Bottega Orafa of Alessandro Dari (Via di S. NIccolo 115 R, 50125, Firenze, Italy).

 

This place will remain in your heart and your mind.

 

17 July 2020