Extraordinary auction: Fabio Salini donates lifetime of jewellery to Make-A-Wish charity

Italian jeweller Fabio Salini has donated more than 50 of his distinctive, innovative jewellery pieces, with an estimated value of over £2m, to UK-based charitable initiative Art of Wishes. The full proceeds from a Sotheby’s auction, ‘Jewellery Creations by Fabio Salini: a Charity Auction for Art of Wishes’, will be donated to the initiative, which unites the art community to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish charity, granting the wishes of critically ill children.

For Salini, who questioned the role of art in a crisis during the pandemic, the auction is the natural culmination of art’s ultimately humanitarian function. ‘This project is full of emotion,’ says the jewellery designer. ‘This is the fruit of the pandemic. I felt strongly that I wanted to share my fortune with less fortunate people, and give sense to something which is a luxury product. Jewellery is the last thing you buy when you have everything. And, I felt I wanted to give a more elevated sense to what I have done for a while. You start asking yourself, in this huge universe, what am I? It’s something more tangible than nice jewellery, and it’s nice to help make wishes come true.’

The jewellery Salini is donating for Art of Wishes encapsulates his innovative and extraordinary philosophy, with pieces in straw, rock crystal, leather, shagreen, titanium and carbon fibre a tribute to his unique and audacious vision.

‘It has been hugely illuminating discovering more about the vision and ideals that inform and inspire Fabio’s extraordinary artistic practice,’ says Batia Ofer, founder of The Art of Wishes. ‘His willingness to take risks, to stretch boundaries, and to draw on such a diverse range of references, both contemporary and historic, is truly breathtaking, revealing, I believe, the point where art and jewellery intersect. As well as being an extraordinary human being with a huge heart, he is also a true artist and a visionary.’

‘Each piece has a very strong meaning for me, and that’s why it has been hard,’ Salini adds. ‘I have been working on this and the psychological aspect for three years. Nevertheless, when it came to the moment of shipping the pieces, there was a lot of resistance. But they're gone and life goes on, and I cannot wait for the auction. And I hope that there will be a good result.’

Says Ofer, ‘When I first began working with Make-A-Wish a decade and a half ago, it was the children who inspired me to become more involved and eventually start Art of Wishes. I saw how a wish helped create hope and happiness, but also unique and priceless memories for the children and their families to treasure. It is my role to pass on that conviction. And there is one other important ingredient — collaboration.

‘Art of Wishes couldn’t exist on its own, and with this event, we are incredibly fortunate, not only in Fabio’s astonishing generosity and unstinting support, but also to be partnering with Sotheby’s.’

‘Jewellery Creations by Fabio Salini: a Charity Auction for Art of Wishes’ forms part of Sotheby’s Luxury Edit. It can be viewed in advance from Tuesday 16 – Tuesday 23 August 2022 at Sotheby’s Monaco exhibition space, where 31 pieces will be displayed, and then at Sotheby’s London Bond Street showrooms from Thursday 1 September until the day of the sale. The sale will be divided into two parts. An online auction will commence at 10am, Thursday 25 August and close at 3pm, Thursday 8 September. There will be a live auction for select items on Wednesday 7 September, commencing at 7pm.

Part 1 of the live auction

Part 2 of the live auction