Growing up in Sicily, Verdura spent his summers at the beach, watching fishermen haul their catches in from the water and mend their nets on the shore. His preoccupation with rope-work grew with age, becoming a prominent feature of his jewelry designs. His reference library at work included manuals on all forms of weaving, from Navajo baskets to Chinese macramé, his favorite volume being the exhaustive Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work by R. Graumont and J. Hensel.

• Black jade and 18k gold