antonio: the golden boy.

i swear, almost every piece i see by antonio bernardo has me speechless, with the possible exception of one word: genius. the fact that he trained as an engineer is explanatory, not surprising. the way his pieces twist and turn, frequently becoming something else...brilliant. (i love saying that. i really should have been born british.) how i would love to get inside his head, or at least into the toy box of ideas that is his studio.

take his 360° earrings (oh, if only i could!) definitely high on the "how'd he do that?" meter. gold wire forms circles that, well, are hard to explain but amazing to look at. round and round they go and where they stop, nobody...wait a minute, they don't stop!

a peek into his showroom in his rio de janeiro headquarters puts you face to face with a giant version of his vivo pendant and earrings. which came first? he's not telling. the sketch, we assume. 

ah, rio. the sun. the water. the absolutely gorgeous people. no wonder his work looks like it does. his minimalist pieces are right at home in this exotic urban locale. and the movement that is integral to so many of his designs mimics every bikini-clad hip on the beach. then there's the romance of the portuguese language itself – can you think of a sexier way to say "bracelet" than "pulseira"? didn't think so.

behind it all is the dashing, affable, man himself (pictured with nicole...she gets to go everywhere!) -- fun and friendly in spite of his well-deserved fame. which is the perfect segue to a very exclusive heads-up...antonio is coming to i. gorman, in actual, live person, in december. you don't want to miss it, but you will have to get in line behind me. it may finally be time to treat myself to antonio's ressonância earrings. then again, maybe i'll wait and see what he dreams up next!