Bruno Busonera: the goldsmith with the golden hands

From shop boy to goldsmith with the particular ability of creating true jewels, unique in their kind and appreciated by lots of individuals. Many people know Bruno Busonera and had the honor of commissioning some works made by his hands as an artist. From the realization of religious and ecclesiastical things to the accessories and the ornaments of the folk groups come from various areas of Sardinia.


Bruno Busonera was eight years old when he began knowing the gold art. 
Day after day, the shop boy, while he watched how things were made, he began getting into and taking familiarity with that job and, step by step, he learnt to create precious stones with his own hands.


The apprentice became a teacher and, in ’74, opened his workshop, that shop so much aspired, that shelter where he felt to be protected and free to express his artistic verve, creating things made by him, where he himself was the artist.


His work is conducted for about ten hours, during the day. It depends by the thing: normally, for realizing a jewel, he needs two days. But, certainly, the result obtained, after a long time of full immersion, is a total precision and mastery, splendor and magnificence, glare and brilliance.

The works made by him are not only the traditional earrings, necklaces and rings. Certainly, these belong to the series of products that Bruno Busonera always guarantees to his customers and among them there is the request of the earrings that are typical of Magna Greece of Fourth Century Before Christ, some earrings with a shape of a small cock and some earrings that must be worn around the ear and have the shape of a swan or a snake.


But the peculiarity of his art is linked to the implementation of religious and ecclesiastical works; accessories that accompany the costumes worn by the members of the Sardinian folk groups, for instance su lasu, the harness used in the costumes typical of the territory of Quartu and Selargius or other models of harnesses that belong to the area of Iglesias; jewels representing the Island, for example the Sardinian wedding ring, called s’aneddu a granos; cameos, pins and buttons; things by now obsolete such as the spuligadentes, that were necessary for cleaning, on the one hand, the ears and, on the other hand, the teeth, created specifically for too curious and gossipy ladies; things of the Roman Epoch; modern jewels.


The colors of the stones set in the jewels depends to the area of Sardinia. That typical of Cagliari is the red and respects this habit, affixing above all stones of this color.
It is true, too, that the choice of the right stone depends to the things, because, for instance, in the golden and silver jewels there are not some precious stones. Garnet and amethyst represent the most used models. Before creating the jewel, the Goldsmith makes a drawing and from the initial draft he goes to the production of the thing that has the same color used in the drawing.


Bruno Busonera does not use a particular geometry or drawing and he does not give a particular shape to the jewels that he creates. It is important the request of the customer, too, as that relating to the execution of the Award Silver Ship, that is consigned to the Sardinian artists that characterize themselves abroad, whose realization was requested to Bruno Busonera.