Sold: Bvlgari’s most precious jewellery piece, created for its 140th anniversary

WHEN you’re an Italian luxury jewellery house celebrating your 140th anniversary, how should you mark the occasion?

Well, Rome-based Bvlgari decided to go big. And by that, we mean not only a new collection of spectacular high jewellery and high jewellery watches, but also one-of-a-kind handbags and even its very first “very high-end” perfumes.

Encompassing over 500 pieces across the categories, the new Aeterna (meaning eternal) collection was launched on Monday (May 20) at ancient Rome’s largest bath complex, Terme di Diocleziano. In attendance at the milestone event were brand ambassadors including Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Liu Yifei, Shu Qi and Hikari Mori. Celebrities such as Isabella Rossellini and Carla Bruni walked the runway for its jewellery show.

In paying tribute to Bvlgari’s creative teams and master craftsmen, group chief executive officer, Jean-Christophe Babin, called it “the most extraordinary high-end collection ever”. His effusiveness is understandable, given, for instance, that its piece de resistance, the Serpenti Aeterna necklace, is the most precious high jewellery piece Bvlgari has ever crafted.

It cost more than 40 million euros (S$58.5 million) and took more than 2,800 hours to complete. A rough diamond of over 200 carats was cut to create seven D flawless diamond pear drops totalling 140 carats – one for each year of the brand’s history. They dangle from a sinuous three-dimensional platinum wave structure embellished with 698 baguette diamonds weighing 61.81 carats.

And it has been sold.

This bodes well for the rest of the Aeterna collection, which is inspired by the Eternal City itself and celebrates remarkable gems, as well as the brand’s constant reinvention.

While someone has already snagged the Serpenti Aeterna, there are other jaw-dropping pieces to consider. The Sapphire Brocade necklace, whose precious gems took Bvlgari two years to collect, is an exquisite piece comprising 13 cushion sapphires, plus diamonds and buff-top emeralds.

Carrying a completely different vibe is the bold Aurea Chandra spherical choker that revisits Bvlgari’s iconic 1980s Chandra Line. Here, five rows of alternating pink gold and pave-set diamonds spheres wrap around the neck in a feather-weight yet eye-catching construction.

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Equally stunning, if not more so, are Bvlgari’s high jewellery watches. The Fuochi D’Artificio (meaning fireworks) collection showcases gem-studded timepieces in a burst of colours and different metals, reflecting the joyful atmosphere of an Italian summer night lit up by fireworks.

The clearest representation of that is the Fuochi D’Artificio High Jewellery Manchette, which required over 1,450 hours to make. The watch sits in a semi-rigid cuff in rose gold and blue titanium, with a variety of colourful gemstones and diamonds spread out to portray a vivid explosion of fireworks, the sky represented by hand-cut onyx inserts.

Bvlgari’s ode to gemstones continues in 16 one-of-a-kind, high jewellery handbags crafted from materials such as alligator and crocodile, then enhanced with jewellery pieces featuring its iconic symbols – the Serpenti snake or the Monete antique coins.

Two Monete high jewellery bags, made of Fuji crocodile or Midnight Plum Shiny crocodile, pay homage to the brand’s cultural legacy with a clasp featuring an ancient coin (moneta in Italian). The silver coin dating back to 225-214 BC nestles in a hexagonal yellow gold setting that is embellished with pave diamonds.

The clasp can be detached and interchanged with an alternative element in yellow gold and diamonds. It can also be transformed into a pendant, attached to a yellow gold necklace that comes with the bag.

Similarly, you get bang for your buck with Bvlgari’s first-ever “very high-end” fragrances (and possibly the first ones you keep under lock and key), where the focus is less scent than sensation.

Each flacon is handcrafted by Murano artisans, with the scales of Bvlgari’s Serpenti incorporated in its gold cage design. The bottle is then topped off with a cap carrying a Serpenti head, set with either rubellites, onyx, chrysoprase and diamonds, or tanzanite, onyx, turquoise and diamonds. And yes, the Serpenti heads can be removed and worn as a necklace.