Shaped by Bulgari’s creative director Lucia Silvestri, the collection comprises more than 150 high jewellery creations, including 15 transformable pieces. More than 50 are billed as “millionaire masterpieces”, evocative of their price tag; nine creations come under what Bulgari terms “Capolavori”, the very pinnacle of jewellery making.
The Eclectic Embrace high jewellery collar is one such Capolavori. In white gold, the necklace’s striking geometric pattern is expressed in custom-cut emeralds and black onyx and pavé-set diamonds. At its centre sits a 10.12 carat octagonal Colombian emerald. The design, which took a total of 1,000 hours of craftsmanship to finish, is inspired by the early 17th-century Sammezzano Castle near Florence, famous for its Moorish Revival mosaics.
Secret Garden necklace by Bulgari.
Eva Wang
From centuries-old architectural marvels, Silvestri and her team moved on swiftly inspiration-wise, through ensuing centuries, geographical locations and art forms. There are Pop Art combinations of vibrant cabochon-cut gems; a white gold ring is topped with an antique 7.85 carat pear-shaped diamond and one 5.42 Colombia emerald, its toi-et-moi setting inspired by The Kiss, a 1859 painting by the Italian artist Francesco Hayez. Rome, where Bulgari was founded in 1884, and the city’s many hidden courtyards gave shape to Silvestri’s Secret Garden necklace. Here, the centre gem is a 26.65 carat pink-orange Padparadscha sapphire from Sri Lanka, which Silvestri says is “simply extraordinary”.
Silvestri is long known for her work with colourful gemstones, but Eclettica also includes pieces with a more minimal, restrained colour palette. “With this collection, we have paired a lot of yellow diamonds with white diamonds,” she says. “With this collection, we were free to be creative in many different ways.” Cue two pieces in the shape of the snake, Bulgari’s longstanding mascot. A cuff bracelet is set with a Fancy Vivid Yellow pear-cut diamond. One of the collection’s star pieces is the Serpenti Imperial Heart High Jewellery necklace. The articulated white gold necklace is created from 180 separate parts that are seamlessly linked, its sculpted shape a nod to the Venus de Milo. A rare 30.75 carat antique Golconda diamond forms the snake’s iridescent, glass-like head.