Cerca Trova - Seek and You Shall Find

A former strong safety for the University of Massachusetts football team, Anthony Scirpoli moved to South Florida five years ago to escape the cold weather. He started a line of T-shirts called Drum Bums with music producer Sharkey that was featured on Rock of Love, and eight months ago, created a jewelry-and-accessory brand. Named Cerca Trova, which loosely translates to "Seek and you shall find" in Italian, Scirpoli created stainless-steel, unisex necklaces with a floating effect and crosses with rings cleverly wrapped about the center.

"I wanted each piece to mean something," Scirpoli says. "So each cross and ring has a different design, and I named the styles Faith, Hope, Confidence, Courage, Strength... inspiring names like that."

Even though he grew up Catholic and served as an altar boy, Scirpoli doesn't consider himself religious. But he wants his pieces to have personal meanings for whoever wears them. His necklaces will retail for $75, which is reasonably priced for a startup line from an independent designer.

"I wanted everybody to be able to wear this," Scirpoli says. "I wanted it to be affordable and something that could be handed down to future generations. I remember being a kid and having my uncle or a family member pass a piece down to me and it meant so much. I'd like people to be able to do that with my own designs someday."

Cerca Trova is officially being released this week on Cercatrovafashion.com, though some people couldn't wait to buy the pieces. While dining in Delray Beach a couple of weeks ago, a man bought the necklace right off Scirpoli's neck. "I couldn't believe it, but the guy was serious," Scirpoli says with a laugh. "So I took it off and sold it to him."

In addition to necklaces, Scirpoli is also making belt buckles and leather cuff bracelets, which will cost from $75 to $200. He hopes his sleek, simple crosses on dog tag chains will persuade men to return to a less flashy style of dressing.

"The era of Ed Hardy is too much. It's over," Scirpoli says. "When you've got kids in Iowa rocking it, it's time to move on. I think men are going to be going back to a more-classic look now."

Hallelujah and amen to that.

By Joanie Cox
City Link Metromix
September 29, 2009