Jewellery or Candy? The House of Bulgari

Luxury Powerhouse, Bulgari, are famous for their world class, gemstone riddled jewellery, first coming to the market in 1884. Easily recognisable by their use of ancient elements of Greek and Italian Renaissance, and Art Deco Style, Bulgari remains true to its roots, still to this day producing round, compacted jewellery and accessories, decorated generously with brightly coloured stones. The rainbow toned array of colour used in Bulgari’s signature jewellery collections is thought to link back to Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers and spring, representing flowers blooming over the hot, Italian countryside. The companies well-respected clientele are just one of the many reasons that Bulgari are still seen today as being one of the worlds leading jewellery brands. With iconic public figures such Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn, publicly portraying a keen love for the pieces, it’s no surprise that members of the general public jumped onto the Bulgari train, too. In this article, we will explore the history of the famous jewellery brand, and some of the most popular jewellery collections the company has to offer.

The History of Bulgari

One of the worlds oldest Italian jewellery houses, Bulgari dates back to 1884. The company’s trademark is often written as ‘BVLGARI’ in the classic Latin alphabet. The name derives from the jewellery houses founder, Sotirios Voulgaris, phonetically pronounced Bulgari.

Originally born in Greece, Voulgaris first moved to Italy in 1880, choosing to base himself in Rome. Although he had next to nothing financially, he was eager to find work straight away and was blessed with an unbelievable talent in working with precious metals. Thanks to his natural skills, it wasn’t long before he was snapped up by the working world, leading to him working in several different, industry related jobs. With the dream of one day opening his own shop, Sotirios began putting together a business plan and started to lay the foundations of the now, worldwide Bulgari trademark. By 1884, he opened his first jewellery shop, and before long owned a couple of stores across Italy.

In 1889, Sotirios’ first son, Constantino was born, with his second son, Giorgio, closely following just 1 year later. To Voulgaris delight, both his children had a keen interest in the industry, and ended up actively involved and devoted to the business, for their entire lives. Still in the family, today the company is managed by Francesco Trapani, Sotirios’ great grandson.

Jewellery Collections

Bulgari has a wide array of different jewellery collections, each one having its own specific themes and influences. Below, we discuss a couple of the most popular lines available today.

The B.Zero1 Collection

Brought to the market in the year 2000, the famous B.Zero1 Collection is a sure favourite of every avid Bulgari fan out there. Combining the Tubas motif and the companies traditional BVLGARI logo, every piece of jewellery in the collection proudly displays two of the brand’s most famous elements. Believed to have taken inspiration from Rome’s Ancient Colosseum, the jewellery also includes many sweeping, bold lines. Designed to be worn as an everyday accessory, the bold band, included in every piece, is strong, durable and hard-wearing, making it perfectly suited for day-to-day life and activities. Bright colour combinations, a signature element in Bulgari’s collections, are used minimally throughout the B.Zero1 Collection, focussing more on the bold metals used for the B.Zero1 band.

The BVLGARI BVLGARI Collection

After the death of Sotirios Voulgaris in 1932, his sons, Constantino and Giorgio, began working on a much-needed rebrand for the company, focussing in detail on the logo and overall brand image. In an attempt to honour the brands, and also their father’s Italian history, the boys decided to redesign the iconic Bulgari logo, adapted the spelling to the now trademarked, BVLGARI, using the traditional Roman alphabet. The BVLGARI BVLGARI Collection proudly displays the updated logo, serving as a special remembrance, and honour to the late founder of the worldwide brand. Much like the B.Zero1 collection, the BVLGARI jewellery uses bold, typically gold, metal outlines to make a statement, emphasising the ever colourful precious gemstones enclosed within.

The Save the Children Collection

Bulgari’s relationship with the charity, Save The Children, showcases the enormous benefits that partnerships such as these can bring to vulnerable organisations. Working with Save The Children since 2009, to this day Bulgari has he helped raise of £22 million in support of educational programmes, all over the world. It’s not just Save The Children that have benefitted from this partnership though, the two organisations coming together has boosted brand awareness on both sides, raising money for the charity, and increasing sales for Bulgari; proven by the words of Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari’s Chief Executive Officer, who said: “Aligning common interests will enhance Bulgari’s corporate reputation and Save the Children’s philanthropic reach.”

The limited edition Save The Children jewellery line was specially designed but highly influenced by the famous B.Zero1 Collection, displaying similar bold, metal rings. In celebration of Bulgari’s 130th anniversary, a new pendant was added to the collection in April 2014. With just the latest pendant alone, Bulgari has been able to contribute enough money to the charity to save the lives of 50,000 newborn children in poor, third-world countries.

The Divas’ Dream Collection

The Divas’ Dream Collection, by Bulgari, is based on just what the name states, the beauty of a diva. Attempting to capture the essence of a diva, and be the piece of jewellery that every woman needs, the collection contains 26 pieces of jewellery; each piece containing a brightly coloured gemstone, reflecting any style, mood, and allure that a woman could possibly want. The unique, triangular shape of the signature style, is thought to have been created based on the curved, silhouette of an Italian woman, combined with the arched patterns used to decorate the Roman Baths in Caracalla. When the collection was unveiled, it was to no surprise that the style of each piece had some kind of link back to the Roman finesse, as Italian born Bulgari has always embodied this kind of style throughout their lines.

Whether you’re interested in a beautiful piece of gemstone jewellery for everyday wear or looking for some a little more dazzling, for special occasions, we can assure you that Bulgari has something to suit your style, and personality, absolutely perfectly.