In an office filled with his latest designs, Milan jeweller Gianmaria Buccellati and his wife Rosa Maria Bresciani are talking about the subtle virtues of their hometown. Compared with Rome, says Mr. Buccellati, whom many regard as Italy's supreme creator of luxury jewels, "I would say Milan is more secretive." He invokes the city's many private gardens and secluded courtyards, but he could also be referring to his own jewellery, whose obvious splendour (a Buccellati cocktail ring can approach the size of a real cocktail) is outmatched by an extreme refinement not always visible to the naked eye.

A short walk away, on just the kind of secluded city corner that Mr. Buccellati describes, you can find the showroom of San Lorenzo, a company that specialises in silver jewellery designed by Italy's best-known architects and designers, including figures like senior furniture designer Tobia Scarpa, now in his 70s, and one of Milan's hottest industrial designers, Patricia Urquiola. Under the stewardship of its founder, Ciro Cacchione, San Lorenzo has converted experimental works of contemporary design into very wearable pieces.