How Giovanna Engelbert Became Instagram's Go-To Jewelry Guru
It all began with a rigatoni necklace. As a child Giovanna Engelbert layered pasta to make her own spiraling neckwear. It was her introduction to the idea that jewelry could be accessible as well as beautiful, that materials should be in service to design. Later she used her first official wages to purchase a “trippy” gold and crystal Yves Saint Laurent necklace, and her jewelry collection grew from there.
“I remember the story of every jewel and every piece I have in my life,” she says. “I find the jewels are alive, and they are in conversation with each other.”
Today Engelbert, the global creative director at Swarovski, is a jewelry evangelist to her nearly 2 million followers on Instagram, where her Yves Saint Laurent hobnobs with her Schiaparelli and her Balenciaga hangs with a piece of costume jewelry from Fellini’s Casanova. She places Karl Lagerfeld within stalking distance of enamel pieces she has collected from the 19th century and imagines the intriguing gossip sessions between their makers.
Chunky gold in the more-is-more Italian tradition manifests as a ’70s Bulgari Monete choker. An articulated gold bracelet from the ’40s sits in jaunty juxtaposition to a cacophony of Engelbert, the Swedish jewelry brand she owns with her husband Oscar, including the New York 66 bracelet, the Cross Loop ring, and the Legacy Knot ring.
Although her tenure at Vogue Italia under the late Franca Sozzani shaped her passion for high jewelry, it was her mother, a professor of sculpture in Milan, who instilled a lifelong appreciation of the Italian masters. The two would have vigorous debates about art history, debates that have gone on to influence Engelbert’s exotic, baroque style.
When not beavering away at Swarovski, she likes nothing better than to wear red coral while eating pizza or to relax in her finds from Pennisi in Milan. She has an unexpected admiration for the style of Queen Elizabeth I and her ability to boldly layer extravagant clothing with even more extravagant jewelry; Engelbert describes her own style as “Tudor meets the streets.”
Despite the Berlin iron and lava cameos in her jewelry closet, her favorite era remains the outrageously glamorous 1970s. Think deliciously over-the-top David Webb studded with mouthwatering gems, or stacks of gold from Marina B. In other words, she has come a long way from rigatoni.
This story appears in the May 2024 issue of Town & Country, with the headline "The Jewelry Fan of the Year." SUBSCRIBE NOW
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