This month, Bulgari unveiled its latest high jewellery collection, Polychroma, in the Sicilian resort town of Taormina. This location is also known as the setting for season two of the TV series The White Lotus.
Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s creative director of jewellery, explains the collection’s main idea: “We wanted to include as many colours as possible.” She highlights 56 different tones shown in the precious gems. These include surprising combinations like tanzanites paired with lapis lazuli and morganites mixed with onyx. “There are many new ways to combine colours, stones, and cuts all together,” she adds.
The new collection features 600 pieces in total. Out of these, 250 are brand-new designs. Sixty pieces are labeled by Bulgari as “millionaire products” because of their exclusivity. This launch expands Bulgari’s high jewellery line, which also includes accessories, watches, and perfumes available only to the brand’s top clients.
Rome continues to inspire every Bulgari collection. “The city is very important to us,” Silvestri says. She points to the sugarloaf-cut emerald as an example. Its shape is inspired by the domes of Rome. One notable piece, the Cosmic Vault necklace, showcases this emerald cut along with 331 sapphires and diamonds.
The Cosmic Vault necklace was worn by actress Anne Hathaway at the Met Gala in New York, just days before the collection’s official reveal. It honors another famous Bulgari fan, Elizabeth Taylor, who owned a Bulgari necklace with a sugarloaf sapphire. Taylor’s stone weighed 66 carats, but the Cosmic Vault’s central gem is a royal blue sapphire from Sri Lanka that weighs 123.35 carats — nearly twice as large.
This necklace is one of five called “milestone masterpieces” in the collection. These pieces stand out because of their rare gems, unique cuts, and vibrant colours. Another masterpiece is the Magnus Emerald necklace, set with white diamonds, buff-top emeralds, and a massive octagonal emerald weighing 241.06 carats. Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas debuted this necklace at the Met Gala.
The collection also includes the Essence of Yellow, a platinum ring featuring a rare fancy vivid yellow diamond weighing over 45 carats. Such diamonds are extremely uncommon, appearing in only one out of eight million stones. Bulgari cut this diamond in an Asscher style and surrounded it with 42 step-cut and pave-set diamonds. The design is inspired by the brand’s archives.
Bulgari’s signature styles and techniques are present throughout the collection. For example, the Tubogas chain, which looks like flexible gas pipes, was first introduced in 1948. It appears in the Tanzanite Falls Necklace, made with three yellow gold bands set with diamonds, lapis lazuli, and cabochon tanzanites. The Serpenti motif, another Bulgari hallmark, is featured in necklaces, rings, and Monete pieces decorated with antique coins.
The collection also introduces Bulgari’s first high-jewellery fragrances. Deputy CEO Laura Burdese describes them as “another way to express the brand’s DNA.” These fragrances come in glass vessels handmade by Murano artisans. The bottles are topped with snake-shaped jewels and detachable brooches set with onyx, emeralds, diamonds, coral, green tourmalines, or amethysts.
The scent was created by Spanish perfumer Alberto Morillas. It reflects the collection’s lively theme with notes of rose, jasmine, tuberose, and sambac, blended with sandalwood, oud, and amber.
Greek fashion designer Mary Katrantzou, Bulgari’s creative director of leather goods and accessories since last year, designed eyewear for the Polychroma collection. Her Serpenti sunglasses are made of rose gold and decorated with diamonds and gemstones. She also created handbags with high jewellery clasps that can be detached and worn as pendants.
Watches are becoming an important part of Bulgari’s high jewellery range. One example is the Gioco di Forme e Colori, which features a dial hidden under a detachable brooch inspired by Roman sunlight. Powered by Bulgari’s Piccolissimo mechanical movement, it is the smallest secret watch on the market. It measures only 12 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm thick.
Laura Burdese sums up Bulgari’s essence: “When people ask me what Bulgari stands for, I say we are a magnificent Roman high jeweller. This is who we are at our core.” She calls high jewellery “the peak of our creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship.” Bulgari refers to this as “artsmanship,” where craftsmanship reaches the level of art.
The use of colourful gems has always driven Bulgari’s creativity. The house was founded in 1884 by Sotirios Voulgaris. His sons, Giorgio and Constantino, later joined the business. Around 1907, Giorgio moved to Paris to learn traditional high jewellery techniques. Bulgari then broke the usual rules by adding bright gems to the classic diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, often using yellow gold as the base.
Silvestri joined Bulgari in the early 1980s when she was 18 years old. She has worked to preserve the brand’s identity. “One of my first lessons was when Mr Bulgari told me not to be shy with colours,” she recalls. “A key word I learned from the family is ‘harmony’ — harmony between colours.”
Bulgari’s commitment to “Made in Italy” goes beyond a slogan. “It is a value,” Burdese explains. “It represents our craftsmanship and the artisans who keep this art alive. It is rare today, and we want to pass it down from generation to generation. Protecting this sacred value is very important to us.”
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