The Oldest Jewelry Store in Italy….and Europe?

A precious and timeless memento is Italian gold jewelry, and I decided on gold earrings for me and Camille. Where else to buy such items but at the oldest establishment in Lucca, in Italy and perhaps all of Europe? Carla Carli, a 13th generation Carli brought a velvet tray of gold earrings out from the 17th century vault for me to inspect. When I asked the price for a pair of 14K earrings she first weighed them on a balance in order to calculate their value for today. She and her brother Giuseppe run the family business that was started by Luigi Carli in 1655. Past customers included Elisa Bonaparte (Napolean’s sister), Giaccomo Puccini and Marcello Mastrionni. The tiny shop is elegant inside…high arched hand-painted ceilings and chandeliers. In front of the store are portable, wood carved display cases (extra photo) that are carried out and back in every day for lunch and then in the evening when they close. When Mussolini’s government ordered that the storefront be modernized, the Carli’s refused. Those same cases have been displaying jewelry for centuries. Unfortunately their selection in gold earrings did not match what I had in mind, so I actually bought earrings from a younger Lucchese establishment down the block!