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Aldo Cipullo

Italian, American, 1935-1984

In a jewelry-design career spanning just over two decades, Aldo Cipullo created a portfolio of iconic pieces. And decades after his death, his most famous, the Cartier Love bracelet, remains a best seller.

A life devoted to jewelry seemed preordained for Cipullo, who was born in Naples in 1935 and raised in Rome. His father, Giuseppe, manufactured costume jewelry, and Cipullo, the eldest of five siblings, began selling goods for the family business at age 15.

In 1959, Cipullo left postwar Italy for New York City. He had found the right place at the right time to ply his prodigious talent and navigated between some of the most prestigious jewelers situated on the city’s most glittering thoroughfares, 57th Street and Fifth Avenue. Cipullo’s first stop was the workshop of David Webb, a favorite among the mid-century beau monde. Webb, who was one of America’s most influential and best-loved jewelry designers, became a mentor for the new arrival, advising him to call himself a designer despite his bench jeweler job description.

Tiffany & Co. came next. Cipullo alighted at the design studio in 1964, becoming — along with Sonia Younis, Don Berg and Donald Claflin — part of a youthquake that brought fresh ideas to the stately American brand.

At Tiffany, Cipullo came into his own as a designer with an original point of view, developing a facility across a broad swathe of motifs and inspirations that included lifelike florals, stylized African animals and masks, modern geometries — and hardware, expressed in a series of key-shaped brooches that offer the first glimpse of a theme he would return to later. By the end of the 1960s, he was designing some of Tiffany’s crown jewels, pieces in its Blue Book high-jewelry collection, often using lapis, coral or turquoise. These colorful opaque gems were among the materials that would become hallmarks of his work.

According to the designer’s brother Renato Cipullo — a coauthor with jewelry journalist Vivienne Becker on Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern (Assouline) — when the term of a two-year contract with Tiffany neared its end in 1969, the brand passed on a gold bracelet design Aldo presented to the house. Though Tiffany wasn’t ready to raise Cipullo’s profile, another suitor would soon pick up the piece and give it, and in turn Cipullo, a major public platform. He struck a deal with Michael Thomas, president of Cartier New York, to carry some of his designs — including the new bracelet — exclusively.

Becker recounts the history of the Cartier Love bracelet in the book: Cipullo frequently said that the Love bracelet was born of a sleepless night contemplating a love affair gone wrong and his realization that “the only remnants he possessed of the romance were memories.” He distilled the urge to keep a loved one close into a slim 18-karat gold bangle. The Love bracelet combined hardware with elements of symbolic Victorian jewelry and the chastity belt, plus the ritual of meaningful adornment.

The bracelet, along with its designer, was just the tonic that Cartier needed at the start of the 1970s, a moment when the venerable brand was seeking an injection of youthful jet-set glamour. Cipullo’s winning streak with the brand continued, even as he designed for his own studio, Aldo Cipullo Ltd., which he established in the early part of the decade.

The Love design — which also yielded a ring and a necklace — was not Cipullo’s sole hardware-inspired jewelry for Cartier; his unisex Juste un Clou (“just a nail”) bracelet takes the form of a curved nail. When he died, at the age of 48, from a double heart attack, Cipullo was only getting started. Nevertheless, he left a profound legacy.

Find vintage Aldo Cipullo jewelry today on 1stDibs.

ALDO CIPULLO 18k Yellow Gold & Lapis Pisces Zodiac Pendant Circa 1970s Vintage
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Aldo Cipullo 18k Yellow Gold & Lapis Pisces Pendant Zodiac Circa 1970s Vintage Here is your chance to purchase a beautiful and highly collectible designer zodiac pendant. Aldo C...
Category

1970s American Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Yellow Gold

Aldo Cipullo Gold Link 36" Heart Closure Chain Necklace
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Greenwich, CT
Wear your love on a chain for all to see with this Aldo Cipullo iconic link modernist 18 karat gold 36" chain necklace with heart closure. Signed A. Cipullo. Circa 1975.
Category

1970s French Modernist Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Gold, 18k Gold

Aldo Cipullo Vintage Blue Agate Carnelian Link Necklace
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in New York, NY
Step into the realm of timeless elegance with Aldo Cipullo's masterful creation, a long necklace that epitomizes the designer's ingenuity and commitment to pushing the boundaries of ...
Category

20th Century American Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Agate, Carnelian, 18k Gold

Aldo Cipullo Modernist Gold Wrench Bangle Bracelet
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Greenwich, CT
This is no monkey wrench. Just an authentic and very rare Aldo Cipullo modernist gold 'wrench' designed bangle bracelet. Signed A. Cipullo. Stamped with date 1974. 18 karat yello...
Category

1970s American Modernist Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Gold, 18k Gold

ALDO CIPULLO 18k Yellow Gold & Nephrite Cross Pendant Vintage Circa 1970s Rare
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Aldo Cipullo 18k Yellow Gold & Nephrite Cross Pendant Vintage Circa 1970s Here is your chance to purchase a beautiful and highly collectible designer pendant. Made by Italian des...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Jade, Yellow Gold

Aldo Cipullo 1970 Graduated Necklace in 18kt Yellow Gold with Red Coral and Onyx
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Miami, FL
Necklace designed by Aldo Cipullo. Magnificent and very rare vintage necklace, created In New York city by the iconic master jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo, back in the 1970. This necklace comprises of round onyxes carvings connected by rectangular links and red coral elements crafted with graduated patterns in solid yellow gold of 18 karats with high polished finish. Mount with natural gemstones and fitted with a hinged slashed push lock for security. The gold and the squared coral elements designed in an intricate way that is the signature style of Cipullo. This necklace is one of the greatest examples of vintage jewelry workmanship and the genius of Aldo Cipullo jewelry designs. Red Coral: Mounted in calibrated bezels, with 17 squared pyramids cabochons cuts graduated from 9 mm by 9 mm to 12 mm by 12 mm, carved from natural Sardinian vivid red corals. Black Onyx: Mount with 17 calibrated round open discs graduated from 20 mm to 37 mm, carved from natural black onyxes. Birthstone: Coral for the month of October. Weight: 176.95 Grams, (113.43 Dwt). Size: The total lenght is 22 Inches (55.8 Cm). Measurements: The widest part is 37 mm by mm (1.46 Inches). Hallmarks Stamped with the maker's mark monogram AC, the mark for the assay of the gold and signed, "©A. CIPULLO .750". Cipullo para siempre - Gioiellis Aldo Cipullo (1942-1984), was an Italian born jeweler. He born and was raise in a family of designers with jewelry traditions, his father was the owner of a jewelry factory and his brother Renato Cipullo made jewelry designs for Christian Dior. Aldo, was the creator of the popular and iconic Cartier bracelets, love and the nail, still until today considered ones of the best designs of the 20th century. He work as a designer in New York, for David Webb (1960-1969) and Cartier (1969-1975). In 1975 he found his own company as a freelance designer. Literature: Renato Cipullo and Vivienne Becker, Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern, Assouline 2021, Pp-104 for a similar examples). Note: The corals displayed...
Category

1970s American Modernist Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Coral, Onyx, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold

Vintage Aldo Cipullo Necklace 18k Gold Chrysoprase Lapis Lazuli Estate Jewelry
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
A stunning vintage Cipullo chrysoprase, lapis lazuli and 18 karat yellow gold necklace. It comprises of round chrysoprase links connected by gold and lapis lazuli elements. The chrysoprase links come in graduated size, smaller on top and larger in the middle of this vintage necklace. The gold and lapis lazuli elements designed in an intricate way that is Cipullo’s signature style. The lapis lazuli pyramids set in the gold squares holding two links together with a gold loop. The gemstone colors perfectly underline each other. Deepness of lapis lazuli blue combined with the brightness of yellow gold makes chrysoprase green pop. This vintage Cipullo necklace is one of the greatest examples of vintage jewelry workmanship and genius of Aldo Cipullo jewelry designs. This vintage necklace is made of 18 karat yellow gold, chrysoprase and lapis lazuli. The necklace measures 21 ½” x 1 ½” (54 x 3.7 cm) and weighs 172.6 grams. The chrysoprase links diameter graduates from 1 7/16" down to ¾”. Stamped with Aldo Cipullo maker's mark and hallmark for 18 karat gold. About the Brand: Aldo Cipullo is mostly known as a creator of the famous Cartier Love bracelet. However, he designed several iconic pieces, and his talent was appreciated by David Webb and Tiffany & Co. His father was a costume jewelry maker, and Aldo worked as an apprentice at one of his workshops. But Cipullo’s ambition went further than Italy where he was born. After he turned 23, he moved to New York to study at The School of Visual Arts. In 1969 Aldo Cipullo started to work for Cartier, and his glorious journey began. Very soon after Cipullo came up with the idea of Cartier Love bracelet. The new design made a big splash in the jewelry world. It was a completely new perspective of the classic look. There is a story behind creating Love bracelet. It says Cipullo was heartbroken at that time after a failed love affair. He wanted to lock in his memories as it was all he had left. Being fascinated by industrial features of New York City and all things hardware, he drew his first draft of the bracelet. Another emblematic piece by Cipullo called Juste en Clou (Just a Nail) came up in 1971. The minimalist, wrapped around nail-looking gold bracelet was a great success. Today the yellow gold, rose gold and white gold Cartier Nail bracelet...
Category

1970s American Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Chrysophrase, Lapis Lazuli, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold

Aldo Cipullo 1970 New York Quilted Clip Earrings 18Kt Yellow Gold with Diamonds
By Aldo Cipullo
Located in Miami, FL
A pair of Earrings designed by Aldo Cipullo (1942-1984). Great quilted pair, created in New York city at the atelier of Aldo Cipullo, back in the 1970's. This pair of clips-earrings...
Category

1970s American Modernist Vintage Aldo Cipullo

Materials

Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold

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Aldo Cipullo jewelry & watches for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a range of Aldo Cipullo jewelry & watches available on 1stDibs. Each of these unique items was designed with extraordinary care, often using gold. While looking for the most stylish antique or vintage Aldo Cipullo jewelry to pair with your ensemble, you’ll find that Aldo Cipullo onyx jewelry & watches, from our inventory of 6, can add a particularly distinctive touch to your look. We have 19 pieces in this collection as well as a number of other designs by this jeweler.

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