Buccellati, Furry collection.
Buccellati is inviting its inner circle to look at silverware from a completely different angle — preferably through the bottom of an exquisite crystal glass. The high jewellery Maison has renewed its partnership with interior designer Chahan Minassian to open an intimate, double-height Caviar Bar inside the historic family flagship at Via Montenapoleone 23 in Milan. Tucked away in a private courtyard space inside Palazzo Gavazzi, the project transforms the brand’s legendary ‘Art de la Table’ silverware archive into a fully functional hospitality environment.
The Caviar Bar was designed following the features of the signature ‘Caviar’ collection, famed for a dense surface texture composed of entirely hand-crafted silver microspheres. Minassian has taken that micro-beaded motif and expanded it across a room lined with vaulted surfaces entirely garbed in custom mirrored panels, rendered in nuanced tones of copper, silver and smoky grey.
Visitors enter through an atmospheric gallery that recalls the ceremonial sequences of 19th-century Milanese palazzi. This path then opens into a main salon dominated by dramatic verticality, where a glazed mezzanine level overlooks the lounge seating, bespoke bistro tables and a central bar arranged to host conversational intimacy. “The objective was to create an interior that felt welcoming and lived-in while preserving the architectural grandeur of Palazzo Gavazzi,” Minassian explains. “The mirrors introduce light, movement and depth, while the materials, textiles and Murano glass bring warmth and intimacy.”
Caviar Bar by Giulio Ghirardi.
Caviar Bar by Giulio Ghirardi.
The double-height lounge combines antique Murano glass chandeliers with custom-designed velvet sofas, Fortuny fabrics and richly textured leathers, establishing a residential mood where guests sip drinks alongside new additions to the Caviar lineup. The spherical design motif — reinterpreted by Andrea Buccellati from an original drawing — adorns a comprehensive new flatware set, ice buckets, champagne flutes, trays and two distinct sizes of caviar serving bowls, all finished with a delicate crown of silver microspheres.
But that’s not all. The bar also serves as the active setting for the house’s most eccentric silverware collections, treating centuries of Italian bottega craft as dynamic tabletop accents. For instance, the tablespace highlights the ‘Furry’ collection, a series of realistic silver animal sculptures first devised in the 1960s by Gianmaria Buccellati. The unique hair-like manual technique involves hand-fraying paper-thin silver sheets over plaster moulds to create hyper-detailed deer, eagles and flamingos. These sit alongside smaller, tender creatures like squirrels, sparrows, dogs, koalas, monkeys and oryxes, complemented by feathered birds that look alive. To accent the experience, the Maison has also integrated its new ‘Furry’ bowls collection, displaying textured, decorative silver receptacles across the lounges.
Buccellati, Nature collection.
Buccellati, Caviar and Jam Jar collections.
The remaining corners of the bar introduce a playful splash of colour via the ‘Jam Jar’ collection. Here, the pieces fuse hand-blown Murano glass bases with sculpted silver lids shaped like delicate botanical foliage, expanding this season to include a realistic, deep-purple blackberry jar. These additions join the existing pieces shaped like lemons, oranges, plums, apples, pears, mushrooms, pumpkins and peaches. To heighten the tablescape’s decorative appeal, matching miniature place card holders — designed as tiny replicas of fruits and vegetables — are also scattered across the settings.
The venue rounds out its study of the natural world with the ‘Nature’ collection, showcasing silver triptych bowls inspired by flower petals, leaf-shaped picture frames and monumental table centrepieces. These include the historic ‘Armatae Flores’ — a majestic centrepiece composed of a handcrafted garland of artichokes grafted onto a silicified wooden base — and the theatrical poppy centrepiece, featuring light silver blooms rising from a functional floral container.
The new Buccellati Caviar Bar is open for private client commissions and hospitality bookings at the Milan flagship. Discover all the new Buccellati collections here.
photography. courtesy of Giulio Ghirardi (interiors), Buccellati
words. Gennaro Costanzo
