Francesca Villa has never designed from a blank page. For the Italian jeweller, every collection begins with an object already in hand: something found, collected — and sometimes forgotten in her studio for a year before it tells her what it wants to become.
This time, that object was a small vintage truck pin, the kind of pop-culture trinket that once captured America’s love affair with speed and distance.
“Travel was the main point of my work,” she says, recalling her first collection, fittingly titled Travel Journey. The trucks, then, for On the Road, were almost inevitable. “The idea is to take exactly the same shape of the truck pins and recreate and reintroduce them in something totally different,” she explains — enriched with hard stones, diamonds in 18k gold, and the sense of a story still unfolding. That story, for Francesca, is the road as metaphor for life — the miles, not the destination. To evoke a sense of motion, she explored Paesina, a variety of Tuscan limestone prized for the natural, painterly landscapes running through its surface. “I wanted to give wearers a sense of movement in the pendant, so that when they see it, they can perceive that the truck is moving forward,” she explains.
“This stone is never without any spot and not used in classic jewellery. But I like the idea that it’s natural.” Sourcing the right stone took patience, she informs, adding that a large piece was cut, only to be ruined at the final stage during the sizing process. Such challenges are at the forefront when “working with materials that resist easy handling.” The collection’s most ambitious piece, Scenic Route, brings the idea fully into focus. A truck set against a Paesina landscape, framed in diamonds, blue sapphires and brown diamonds, with lapis and mother-of-pearl detailing — and on the reverse, a hand-drawn postcard bearing a quiet message: ‘enjoy the journey, love Francesca.’ It is a structure she describes almost like a pop-up book, built in layers rather than flattened into enamel, with a titanium back to keep the piece wearable despite its scale. “I love this kind of pop-up book feeling,” she says. “And I didn’t want a very thin truck — I wanted it to sit on the pendant with a certain volume, because it feels more real.”
Flames run through the collection too, rendered in enamel work and borrowed, deliberately, from the wrong vehicle. “Usually, flames are related to racing cars rather than trucks,” Francesca adds, with a laugh — an incongruity she has happily leaned into as a way of underlining speed and the speed of passing time.
The aptly named Race On brooch, Fast Lane green brooch, Fast Lane pink brooch, and Trail Blazing necklace sport the flame motif accented with diamonds or multi-coloured sapphires. This idea pops up in another special piece: part brooch, part table object, and a fully functioning watch, its dial inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold lettering, and face, framed by diamonds and emeralds. The design, she informs, is a nod to “the roadside signs in Las Vegas that announce the city long before you arrive.”
Beneath the playfulness sits Francesca’s enduring instinct for storytelling. Each truck was cast and cut to match its original vintage silhouette; the pins themselves too worn to restore, so faithfully redrawn instead. “It is an approach rooted in something close to sustainability,” she says. Her creative mantra involves “giving forgotten objects a second life” is implemented with great care.
On the Road took over a year to complete, deliberately kept to around ten pieces. “I’m totally conscious that this is a very unique collection,” she adds. “People can love it or dislike it. I want to keep it very small, for a few clients.” Time, Francesca seems to suggest throughout this collection, moves quickly. But the right piece of jewellery, she reminds you, is worth slowing down for.