They are inspired by Christian Felber’s Economy for Common Good and Luigino Bruni’s civil economy, collaborate with city cultural associations and voluntary groups, and use traceable and ethically certified raw materials. The Giversos genuinely believe in a different way of doing business, more equitable and sustainable, as Marco explains, at the helm of the family jewellery with his brother Luca – alongside their parents, who continue to make a fundamental contribution. «Giverso has its roots in the early decades of the twentieth century in Condove, a village in Val di Susa, where my great-grandfather used to repair and sell watches. Then the family moved the business to Turin by opening a shop, where my parents specialised in high jewellery and introduced great international brands.
But about twenty years ago, we completely changed course. We started designing and making everything we sell in-house. At that point, as we tried to respond to today’s social and environmental issues, ethics became the north star of our business. Our jewellery aims to send out a message of peace, cooperation and respect». In a nutshell, those who buy a Giverso jewel buy an artisanal product. All the gold used is ethical – recycled and refined inhouse, or Fairmined certified. The diamonds come with a unique “ethical passport”, that of Canadian mines that ensure the highest respect for the environment and workers, while the rubies come from Greenland: they are also fully traceable and respectful of social and environmental integrity. Giverso is one of the few companies worldwide to combine capim dourado, a protected vegetable fibre from Brazil, with gold. It is a resource for indigenous Brazilian women who harvest and process it, and for the environment because it only grows spontaneously (it does not cause deforestation as it cannot be cultivated). «We like craftsmanship, manual skills, unique pieces, and we believe in ethics. We have also started a collaboration with the Renken association in Turin, supporting a reforestation project in Senegal. Through them, we also purchase ebony woods cut by Senegalese artisans, which we then refine and combine with ethical gold and semiprecious stones. This way we ask people to use their art and then add ours to theirs: we cooperate and don’t exploit. Another economy is possible; we are in a network with various associations and voluntary groups and aim to reconcile profits and the common good to become real game changers”.
A Giverso piece can result from the request of a customer, with whom the family works and interacts until the final creation is complete, or from a cultural project. “Every year – Marco continues – we create twelve collections based on a cultural project that acts as a common thread. For example, in 2022, our theme was the ‘revolutionary power of women’.
We focused on three extraordinary women who, in various ways, have revolutionised the mindset of their time and, consequently, ours. The great challenge was translating Rita Atria’s transgression, Artemisia Gentileschi’s courage and Hypatia’s freedom into something precious and physical like jewellery”.
The 2023 project, presented in November, focuses on the Cosmos, or the language Giverso identified as typical of the cosmos, the planet earth and the human body. This language expresses itself with shapes, colours and lights: “For example – Marco concluded – there is a very colourful nebula in the shape of a butterfly in the cosmos. The connection with planet earth is clear: ‘a butterfly’. We translated this language, this butterfly, into designer rings and earrings with gorgeous and modern cuts. It has nothing to do with a didactic representation. In our Comete collection, the celestial element is the comet, with its distinctive train. The earth element is a waterfall of dew, represented by drop-shaped diamonds in our jewellery.
Customer feedback is more than positive: if a piece of jewellery is based on values and messages, it will convey a perceived meaning that rarely leaves people indifferent”.
