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If this were true, we would be entranced by the sparkle of the most precious rain in the world. If some of the masterpieces of the latest high jewelry collection Bulgarians really tinkled on the marble staircase of the Roman maison, we would listen to the music of more than fifteen hundred pure diamonds, seven hundred emeralds of the most hypnotic green, and sapphires, tourmalines, aquamarines, amethysts. If we wanted to know the tonality of this incredible concert for precious stones, we should note on the score the sound of a “royal blue” sapphire of 107.15 carats and that of an oval emerald of 35.53 carats.
Dreaming of the craziest of dreams, our meeting begins with Laura Burdese, the new Global Vice President of Marketing and Communication at Bulgari, and Lucia Silvestri, Creative Director of the historic maison. Two contemporary women, «strong, free, independent, determined, who know what they want, who feel calm and self-confident in describing all the facets of their personality, including fragility», as Laura affirms. And the doubt immediately arises whether this lady in the Serpenti diamond necklace is talking about herself or about the ideal Bulgari customer. The answer, as soon as we cross the threshold of Lucia Silvestri’s office-vault, a necklace of diamonds and emeralds for her, and as soon as we sit in front of her desk entirely covered with gems of spectacular color and size, is only one: yes, we are speaking of the same women, women who create and wear jewels, and who therefore have chosen the power to transform themselves, to be at the center first of all of themselves and then of those who will see them appear on stage. Any scene, adds Lucia, «because I would like to make it clear that the jewel should be worn not only on gala evenings, but with friends, on the boat, in the office, for a cocktail. Everywhere the jewel responds to that desire in each of us to emanate light. In Paris, where in June we presented the latest high jewelery collection, Eden, the Garden of Wonders, a loyal client of ours in jeans and a T-shirt, an important entrepreneur, arrived. She wanted to be gratified, she wanted to feel like queen. And “she” was there, beautiful but not very easy ».
“Lei” is the first necklace that descends the stairs from above, “I designed it – continues Lucia Silvestri – to be able to wear it in three different ways, in its marvelous completeness, as a choker isolating the emeralds, or as a tiara”. Presenting herself in Paris, in the Italian Embassy – and ambassador is a woman, Teresa Castaldo – suggested to Lucia another coup de théâtre, a way to say Rome in Paris, Baroque and Surrealism together, and it is the spectacular series Tribute To Paris, where 461 buff-top emeralds repeatedly form the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower. Wearing it on a very white swan neck, just warmed by the light of dawn over the Eternal City, is Anne Hathaway, protagonist together with Zendaya of Unexpected Wonders, the film that Paolo Sorrentino dedicated to the maison. “When the light comes in, everything seems possible”, whispers Hathaway, awakening, in ruby red silk, in the enchantment of a Roman villa. Everything possible, even “to travel without moving”, takes up Zendaya, luminous in the Serpenti Spinel Embrace necklace in pink gold, diamonds and a 25.70 carat pink spinel from Tajikistan.
Snakes, a theme dear to Bulgari, a primordial symbol of metamorphosis and rebirth. And by transforming women, the maison has always been able to find women who since 1905, from the opening of the historic shop at 10 in via Condotti to today, have been able to interpret a myth of Italianness in the world. “The only word of Italian that Liz knows is Bulgari”, ironized Richard Burton, and Liz was naturally Taylor at the time of their meeting on the set of Cleopatra, shot in Cinecittà in 1962. Before this legendary couple, who will meet again Bulgari jewels also on the set of Boom!, shot in Sardinia by Joseph Losey, other famous personalities had visited the address in Via Condotti, so elegant, so emblematic, so Italian that it illustrated the entry “Shop” in the Treccani Encyclopedia. Among the many, Dorothy Taylor, Countess Dentice di Frasso, lover of Gary Cooper, who following him will bring the Bulgari beauty to Hollywood, and then Tyrone Power and Linda Christian, married in Rome, Bulgari engagement ring and wedding bands, and again Anna Magnani , habitué of the maison, who explained to those who obviously could not know: «Have you ever tried to hold a diamond in your hand? It burns, it burns the skin, and at the same time it is so cold it makes you shiver. “
Walking in the Roman offices, which overlook the Tiber and let the gaze run as far as San Pietro, the faces of Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Monica Vitti, Marisa Berenson, whose portrait in Vogue America in 1967, signed by Gianpaolo Barbieri, had opened the doors of New York to Bulgari. These are the timeless divas. But does Bulgari, a snake that always sheds its skin, also speaks to Generation Z? “Of course, and it does so not only through strong personalities of today such as Zendaya and Anne Hathaway, in fact, and globally Shu Qi, Lalisa, Priyanka Chopra Jonas”, continues Laura Burdese. “But it does so above all by combining the ancient myth of the fairy tale with the value of sustainability in the future, fundamental in the DNA of our company, whether we talk about our suppliers about how we work and assemble the stones, or by remembering the hours of work, thousands, necessary for creation of each jewel, both by announcing the school that Bulgari will open to young aspiring artisans of wonders, where our extraordinary masters will teach ».
