AT THE END OF LAST YEAR, THE LEGENDARY ITALIAN BRAND BULGARI IN HONOR OF THE 130TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPANY HAS AN UNFORGETTABLE RECEPTION IN THE HEART OF DUBAI. EVENING WAS DEDICATED TO THE MOST LUXURY HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS - ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND HER UNIQUE COLLECTION OF JEWELRY DECORATIONS.
Woman in love with Bulgari
Organized with the participation of the Dubai Design District, the exhibition was held at the Cuadro Art Gallery located at DIFC. Bulgari presented unique outfits from the movie Cleopatra, as well as jewelry, many of which could be seen for the first time.
The Queen of Hollywood, as Elizabeth Taylor was called, not only played many roles, but was also known for her love of precious stones. “I adore wearing them, but not at all because they belong to me. You can’t appropriate the radiance, you can only admire them,” she liked to repeat. In 1961 - the times of the golden age of cinema - Elizabeth Taylor came to Rome to play Cleopatra in the film of the same name. The famous Roman film studio "Chinechchita" was located near the city, and Taylor often looked into the Bulgari boutique on Via Condotti, 10 - the coveted password in the realm of new luxury, which world celebrities loved to visit. It was then that Elizabeth Taylor began to collect her Bulgari collection, becoming for many years a faithful and devoted fan of the brand. “I won’t deny that the Bulgari store was a major advantage during the filming of Cleopatra in Rome,” the actress once admitted. “I loved going to Gianni Bulgari after dinner - to sit, gossip, and just exchange stories.”
Most of her jewelry was presented to her by her future husband, Richard Burton (Mark Anthony in the film). Elizabeth was so shocked by them that she insisted that Queen Cleopatra wear jewelry on the screen. The director Joseph Mankevich and the producers of the film made concessions, even despite the fact that the stone cut that can be seen in the frame was not yet used in the time of Roman emperors and legendary triumphs in antique toga (at that time the stones had the shape of smooth cabochons; modern rectangular cutting began to be applied only with the invention of electricity).
This did not bother the Hollywood diva at all - the Egyptian queen proudly showed off in the frame with a magnificent necklace of emeralds cut in octagon. In 2011, a collection of jewelry from Elizabeth Taylor was put up for auction at Christie's, becoming the most expensive collection of jewelry in history (!) - His estimate was estimated at 100 million pounds. Among the lots were seven products of Bulgari, which testifies to the actress's love for the Jewelry House. During the auction, Bulgari bought its jewelry: this is a platinum necklace and brooch decorated with emeralds and diamonds (over 80 carats), a ring with an octagonal emerald and diamonds weighing 7.4 carats, a brooch with emeralds and diamonds in the form of a floral branch made using technology EnTremblant, turquoise-encrusted Cleopatra’s gold mirror, platinum sautoir with diamonds and sapphires and a detachable 65-carat faceted sapphire pendant, Trombino art deco platinum ring with faceted sapphire weighing more than 25 carats and ash oh sotuar six ancient Byzantine coins.
It was these jewelry that was put on display in Dubai as a symbol of the irresistibility of their legendary former owner and the jewelry genius of Italian craftsmen.
From the cult of antiquity to the present day
The current head of Bulgari, a tanned and optimistic Jean-Christophe Babin, is confident that Bulgari was in the right place at the right time. In his opinion, the jewelry market is now developing much faster than the market for watches or leather goods. But the tradition of creating luxury jewels with colored stones will remain the core of Bulgari brand ideology. We met with Jean-Christophe to talk face to face about what the brand is today.
Jean-Christophe: Jewelry is our work, our love, our passion. Moreover, our Jewelry House has been manufacturing products for 130 years, which we recently noted. In those distant years, it all started with silver jewelry, then we switched to more expensive metals, but we never changed our passion.
Colored stones are our brand name. They knew and loved us yesterday, they know us today and they will love us tomorrow. Only having mastered the art of working with colored precious stones, you can consider yourself a real jeweler. In Bulgari style, they blend perfectly with diamonds.
What watch novelties are you most proud of?
Jean-Christophe: It's too early to talk about pride - you need to make sure that the new models sell well. However, in truth, I have no doubt about that. What is worth at least our LVCEA model - this watch is modest and at the same time very recognizable because of the bracelet and beveled case with a ruby winding head. From the very beginning we decided to make this model of gold and steel, which distinguishes Bulgari from the ranks of our competitors, because watch manufacturers rarely combine these two materials.
The design of this watch is universal, but you can choose a model with a quartz or mechanical movement. We have done everything possible so that LVCEA takes its niche in the market of women's watches. But they did not forget about men. The new Octo models are the perfect embodiment of what is sometimes called the "Roman heart" of Bulgari House. When designing this watch, we allowed ourselves to play a little and created a model that was completely unusual, but also attractive. Their owners will discover new and new parts and faces literally every day, which means that our watches simply can not get bored.
I want to congratulate you - recently, the Diva High Jewelery Emeralds watch model won the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie De Genève 2014 prize as the “Best Jewelry Watch”.
Jean-Christophe: Thank you very much! This is not just a jewelry watch - it is a watch reflecting the whole quintessence of Bulgari. The model is made in the form of a flower decorated with 258 emeralds and 444 diamonds. Nobody has done this before.
What is the basis of Bulgari jewelry design today?
Jean-Christophe: For many, many years, jewelry, originating in Rome, developed and changed. Our products are inspired - no less by the whole centuries-long history of art: from the Etruscans to neoclassicism. You can list endlessly. Having studied with great attention and love the great historical heritage, we have developed certain visual and aesthetic codes that we use directly to create jewelry: as, for example, in the Serpenti collection, in the series of rings B. Zero1, in Diva and, finally, in the collection MVSA.
What is Bulgari's relationship with celebrities?
Jean-Christophe: Some Jewelery houses pride themselves on making jewelry for kings. We have always been jewelers of stars - the Italian "Chinechitta", American Hollywood ... From the very beginning, Bulgari was firmly connected with the world of art and celebrities. And it's not even about advertising. It just so happened that actors, actresses and other famous personalities loved our jewelry.
In the last campaign, with the participation of Carla Bruni - a strong, sincere and open woman with Italian roots - we tried to reveal our style and philosophy. Carla Bruni is still not an ordinary choice for the face of the company, since it is not from the world of cinema, but rather from the world of music. And, of course, we could not ignore the political aspect. The status of the first lady is admired by many people. Power always delights.
What new heights would you like to achieve with Bulgari?
Jean-Christophe: When you take control of a company like Bulgari, you have to cultivate modesty and humility. After all, the reputation of the brand was created over 130 years, and during this time there were so many stories of incredible success! For example, from 1990 to 2005, Bulgari remained the company with the most significant and stable growth in the luxury goods segment worldwide. Therefore, you must pay tribute to your predecessors and treat your duties with the greatest respect. We want Bulgari to be one of the top ten companies worldwide. However, expanding the range of some of our lines, we in no case forget about jewelry and try to do everything so that as many buyers as possible among our collections can find something to their liking.
