Bec Astley Clarke MBE might have been born in central London, but she has an innate Italian sensibility for beauty. The founder of one of the earliest online jewellery retailers, she recently moved to Florence via Umbria, opening a bricks-and-mortar gallery space in the Oltrarno to showcase pieces from her online business, TheItalianCollector.com.
You’re known as The Italian Collector. How do you approach the process of collecting?
Finding beauty is my starting point. When I’m deciding whether to buy something or not, it has to be a full-body yes. Beautiful objects withstand the test of time. They defy trends, fashion or era. If I find them now and they are beautiful, they will be so in a century’s time. Beauty is a commodity with extraordinary value. Craftsmanship and provenance also underpin my decisions, but if I personally don’t find an object beautiful, then it’s not going to make it into the collection.
Collecting is a deeply subjective art, however. Do you ever adjust to your client’s tastes?
Some of my clients are interior designers and architects, who are skilled at understanding somebody else’s taste and buying for them, but I buy for me and my collection. My perspective is the USP. The Italian Collector is a curated gallery rather than a vintage or antique shop.
You only work with Italian collectibles, but are you ever tempted by items from elsewhere?
I’m often drawn to them so I always have to stop myself because my expertise is Italian. I’m in Italy, this is where I source my pieces, and my contacts are here. You have to build up expertise over time. My speciality is vintage Murano glass and Italian vintage mid-century furniture. Italy is a very exportable commodity obviously and my clients are from all over the world, so they are excited to be buying Italian pieces found in Italy and not from a shop in New York or in London.
You recently opened The Bottega in piazza dei Nerli. What can clients expect from the space and the in-person experience?
It’s a beautiful curated gallery space. I run it by appointment, which means that people can get a feel for the pieces that are already online. For more serious collectors, it’s a chance for us to get to know each other better. The other week, I met with a client who wants me to help him build his Murano glass collection and without that coffee, we probably wouldn’t have established that. Having The Bottega allows me to build a more personal relationship with my clients.
What piece is exciting you right now?
It’s something I found a while ago in a private home, but has just been delivered today: an amazing Seguso Vetri d’Arte 1939 Twisted Vase. I have also just found some 17th-century stone architraves from Noto, which are incredible.
You previously founded a highly successful jewellery company and you were awarded an MBE for your services to the industry. What made you decide to move to Italy?
My grandparents were friends with a big Roman family, and so we have three generations of friendship that continues to this day. We had lots of family holidays back and forth, so it’s always been a bit of a dream to live in Italy. My husband and I bought a holiday home in Umbria in 2012 and moved there in 2015.
Having grown up at the beginning of e-commerce, I started Astley Clarke as an online jewellery business in 2005. It got lots of recognition because it was one of the first digital media retailers in the UK. We had marvellous investors and I had this big team, predominantly women. We opened a store and then we opened in Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty, followed by a few stores in the U.S. It was a brilliant ride, but I worked too hard. I didn’t want it to be my only story. I had little children and we’d got the business to a point where we thought we could sell it. My son was seven and my daughter was three, so our thinking was if we do this now, we can take our kids and they will be bilingual. If we leave it until they are teenagers, we can’t, and then you’re waiting until you have retired, and that may never happen. And so, we moved to our house in Umbria.
Did that go according to plan?
Neither of us had ever lived in the countryside before, so we didn’t know how to light the fire or kill a snake. I didn’t even know how to make a really good pasta pomodoro, whereas now I do, but it took quite a long time. That was 2015. The kids went to school in Umbria and we spent eight years in the Umbrian countryside. We still have our country house there and we go back every other weekend.
Why the move to Florence?
We wanted more stimulation for the kids and we wanted them to be able to be more independent, and so we chose Florence. We love it. I grew up in central London, so ultimately I’m a city person. Florence is great because it’s a manageable city. For my work, it’s amazing because of the craftsmanship skills here. Especially in the Oltrarno, where I work with wonderful restorers to bring some pieces back to life.
Do you feel like Florence is at risk of losing these skills and culture as young generations look elsewhere for work instead of learning the family business?
I do understand that there are not as many craftspeople as there once were, but I’m coming from the opposite angle, having lived in London, where a lot of our craft has been lost. There are such incredibly skilled craftspeople in Florence. I am blown away by the work people do here. It takes a lifetime to learn and refine those skills. In the UK there is a big move to try and bring some of them back. People are bored with mass manufactured stuff. They want this level of craftsmanship, so I am hopeful for the artisans of Italy.
Your favourite places for inspiration and relaxation?
We have coffee at Melloni in the mornings, near the Ponte Vecchio. I love the rowing club: for actual rowing and, of course, for lunch. For an aperitivo, we go to the Quattro Leoni enoteca; it’s tiny, but Alfonso makes the best Pomodoro Margarita. Sant’Ambrogio: shopping for proper food. And, of course, Regina Bistecca for the best Fiorentina in Florence. Now that I have opened The Italian Collector Bottega in San Frediano, I am discovering all of the area’s hidden treasures. I think Sabatino might be my favourite place for lunch in Florence! Simone’s lampredotto stand in front of The Bottega is always bustling. I never thought I would say this, but a lampredotto panino is actually delicious.
Find out more @theitaliancollector_official
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