ITALIAN INDULGENCE
Bulgari’s latest high jewellery collection really hits close to home, discovers
BVLGARI, THE MASTER of coloured gemstones and voluptuous proportions, calls its new high jewellery collection The Magnificent Inspirations, symbolic of its deep and lifelong love for Italy. Divided into three distinct chapters — Italian Extravaganza, Mediterranean Eden and Roman Heritage — this new collection sparkles with the Maison’s signature style of multihued gemstone combinations, geometrical shapes, daring volumes, sensuality and suppleness, all of which reflect the colours, light, boldness and romanticism of its beloved homeland.
Although most of the jewellery are designed in majestic proportions, these statement pieces are also extremely wearable and sensual on the skin. Bulgari’s Jewellery Creative Director Lucia Silvestri deliberately designed her creations to be highly tactile so that they would be able to engage all five senses at once, encouraging the Bulgari woman to play with her jewels and to listen to the sound they make as the large gemstones knock against each other.
Silvestri speaks of her designs as if they were her children. “Since I buy the gems and follow the piece from the beginning to the end, I consider them to be my babies,” she notes.
Picking up a piece, she says: “It’s not really a sound that they make; instead, it’s music.” Each time she discusses a specific jewellery, she asks: “Did you touch it? It’s much better when you see it around your neck.” It’s important to her that one feels and tries on the jewels. When they are statically displayed in their vitrines, certain details — like how the thinly sliced emeralds on one stunning necklace have the ability to take on the colour of the wearer’s skin — are lost.
As the Italian lifestyle is always presented as joyful, expressive and charismatic, Italian Extravaganza is all about exuberance, ostentation and beauty, mirroring Italy’s talent in attracting visitors from all around the world through its excellence in art, design, architecture, fashion, its charming natural landscapes and exquisite women. This is reflected in its