Bvlgari launches its most extraordinary high jewellery collection yet for its 140th anniversary

Some of the biggest celebrities, including Bvlgari’s brand ambassadors Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Liu Yifei, Shu Qi, Hikari Mori and Alessandro Gassmann, were in attendance and dazzled in Aeterna high jewellery pieces. Chopra Jonas, in particular, stole the show with the star piece of the collection: the Serpenti Aeterna necklace, the most precious high jewellery piece ever crafted by the Roman brand. The jaw‑dropping necklace features seven D flawless diamond drops, all cut from the same rough and totalling 140 carats, symbolising the brand’s 140th anniversary. It is further enhanced with 698 baguette diamonds weighing 61.81 carats.

Upon arrival, guests were invited to enjoy cocktails and canapés before being ushered to the Chiostro Ludovisi, a veranda built over the Terme di Diocleziano’s large outdoor pool, to be seated for the show. As the sun started to set, a moving dance duet by Italian ballet dancer Eleonora Abbagnato and choreographer and dancer Sadeck Berrabah began, followed by a unique and captivating choreography by Berrabah and 80 dancers who moved in sync, performing with just their upper bodies.

Then, it was time for the main event: the jewellery show. To a rousing rendition of Nina Simone’s Feeling Good, models strutted out in spectacular Aeterna creations that sparkled in the night. Guests were delighted to see some surprise familiar faces on the runway, such as the iconic Italian models Mariacarla Boscono, Elisabetta Dessy, Isabella Rossellini and Carla Bruni.

The breathtaking show was followed by a gala dinner at Chiostro di Michelangelo, a cloister in the Terme, with a menu specially designed by Italian chef Massimiliano Alajmo of the three‑Michelin‑starred Le Calandre. Ending the night on a high note was internationally acclaimed Italian singer‑songwriter Elisa, who treated guests to a live performance.

Once in a Lifetime

Ahead of this memorable evening, Tatler Singapore had a preview of the Aeterna high jewellery creations, which we got up close to at a showcase held within the Terme di Diocleziano earlier that day. A selection of key pieces, including the one‑of‑a‑kind Serpenti Aeterna necklace, were presented in displays inspired by the work of Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi.

These were set against stunning reinterpretations of architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s prints, rendered on exquisite custom‑made tapestries realised with the high‑density jacquard technique by historic Venetian weaving specialists Rubelli.

Speaking to Tatler Singapore in an interview at the Terme, Bvlgari’s chief executive officer Jean‑Christophe Babin reflects on the brand’s momentous milestone: “When I think about the [past] 140 years, what crosses my mind is that we’re crafting for eternity. Pieces we crafted one century ago are probably worn by some of our clients’ daughters, granddaughters or great‑granddaughters today. We’ve left them a legacy [that] till today is still important emotionally to many people who trusted Bvlgari back in the late 19th century, in the mid‑20th century, and till more recently. Therefore, we stand for eternity. Every single piece we craft is made not only with precious materials that last forever, like diamonds, rubies, gold and platinum, but also, our style is timeless. So you buy eternity in two ways: timeless value and timeless wearability.”

Read more: How Bulgari’s Serpenti has evolved over 75 years

The new Serpenti Aeterna necklace is a fitting embodiment of this concept of eternity. Requiring more than 2,800 hours to complete, this gem of a necklace is testament to the house’s dedication to pushing boundaries. A rough diamond of a whopping 200 carats acquired by Bvlgari was cut to create the seven D flawless diamond drops on the necklace, which are seemingly embraced by a sinuous three‑dimensional wave structure in platinum that comes fully set with baguette diamonds. With the flexibility of a snake, this structure undulates across the neck, culminating in a clasp at the back that takes the form of a serpent’s head with its tail in its mouth, like an ouroboros (an ancient symbol depicting a serpent eating its own tail) guarding this masterpiece and representing an eternal cycle of rebirth.

“We’ve all seen big diamonds before, but you’ve probably never seen big diamonds that come from one single rough, all of the same D flawless quality. This, I think, is a once‑in‑a‑century occurrence, so at the moment, this is the single most important diamond necklace of this current century,” says Babin.

“Hidden” Serpenti motif aside, the CEO notes that the Serpenti Aeterna surprises also because the creation, made entirely of platinum and set with only white diamonds, is an unexpected showpiece for a brand that is renowned for its prowess in coloured gemstones.

“Usually, when people define Bvlgari, they say we’re the master of coloured gems, which is true. I think no one is better than Bvlgari in daring to combine such unexpected shapes and colours together, and this has been the signature of the brand,” he expounds. However, Babin reveals that the Roman jeweller’s first high jewellery creations were made only in platinum and predominantly featured diamonds.

“If you go to our heritage collections from the 1920s and ’30s, you won’t find [many] coloured gems,” he says. “Save for a combination of diamonds with maybe one sapphire or one ruby, we’ve been in diamonds [almost] exclusively till the Second World War. Restrictions on platinum and diamonds during that war led us to turn to gold and coloured gems. We adapted and evolved our style, which then became our signature, as it was totally new in high jewellery and made us go from an Italian darling to a global one.”

The Serpenti Aeterna, therefore, is Bvlgari’s way of reminding the world of its beginnings. “It’s a way to pay tribute to our founders and show that not only are we an expert in coloured gems, [but] we’ve also always been and still are a master of diamonds,” says Babin.

Now and Forever

Many more exceptional high jewellery creations can be found in the Aeterna collection, including the Aurea Chandra, an attention‑grabbing spherical choker that channels the daring spirit of the exuberant 1980s. Five alternating rows of plain and diamond‑set pink gold spheres coil around the neck, their gentle curves lending a softness to the strong statement piece.

In honour of Bvlgari’s Roman origins and heritage, the Monete Aeterna Augustus Emerald sautoir encapsulates the brand’s past, present and future with its central imperial bronze coin. Minted during the reign of former Roman emperor Tiberius, it depicts the profile of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, for whom the Ara Pacis Augustae, a monument symbolising the empire’s power and prosperity, was commissioned and whose mausoleum faces the Bvlgari Hotel Roma. This necklace, which was modelled by Rossellini during the jewellery show, is completed with 149 identical emerald beads totalling 615.04 carats, 80 buff‑top emeralds, and pavé diamonds.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, Babin shares a hint of what else is in store for the 140th anniversary celebrations. “As the name suggests, Aeterna is something that’s limitless. We’ve started in Rome with the global collection presentation, but this collection is like a living animal; like a snake,” says Babin. “As we speak, we have more pieces in our laboratory still being crafted, which will then join our other events, following this one, in other regions and countries. We’ll continue to craft Aeterna for at least the next six months because we know that it should sell reasonably well. We have to make sure that when it leaves Italy for other countries, we’ll still have a big collection to travel the world.”

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