The idea of the ruby as a symbolic signature comes from the pages of antique collectors’ books.
Roberto Coin’s passion for history and mythology led him to discover three very special stories, stories that mixed reality and imagination as is the nature of legends, stories that led him to a fundamental choice for his future.
The first legend was set in the world of ancient Egypt. The pharaohs believed that the ruby was a sort of talisman that guaranteed love, joy and everlasting health if you kept it in contact with your skin.
The second story told was of the Burmese warriors who were convinced that the ruby, kept in contact with their skin, had the power to protect them from being wounded or killed on the battlefield.
The third and the last legend comes from an old folkloric Hindu myth in which rubies were considered to be the precious fruit of the sacred Kalpa tree – the tree of hopes and desires.
Roberto Coin found a passionate, meaningful symbol in the ruby that has come to identify the soul and the mission of his creative world.
In 1996 the launch of the Appassionata collection marked, not only the beginning of the brand’s history, but also the first time that the magical signature, a small ruby with an immense story, was set in the inside of every piece of the collection.
Since then, all of the fury of courage, the passion of love and the vitality of hope are combined in a single message of goodwill dedicated to the women who wear the brand’s creations, a message of goodwill conveyed in these famous hidden rubies.