Bulgari renews the encounter between steel and gold. And aims for the Moon
The fashion house reinterprets the daring combination it launched in the 1970s in a contemporary key, bringing it into haute joaillerie. Creative director Silvestri: "Maybe one day we will use materials from outer space"
A great fan of the maison's jewellery since his friend Nicola Bulgari, Andy Warhol said that "frequenting a Bulgari shop is like visiting a museum of contemporary art". The research, the experimentation of the Roman maison have always characterised its history, which began in 1884, a vocation that in the Seventies, precisely the years in which Warhol frequented the newly opened boutique at the Hotel Pierre in New York, reached one of the most innovative and interesting peaks with the jewels of the Tubogas line, the one with the most industrial and avant-garde aesthetics of the maison, where gold and steel met, in a completely new way. An encounter renewed this year with the Gold & Steel project, which brings the combination of materials to two B.zero1 rings, a set of Tubogas jewellery and three surprising High Jewellery necklaces, as well as the Serpenti Tubogas Studs capsule collection of watches.
"The inspiration comes first and foremost from our history," explains Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari's creative director. "Back in the 1970s, Bulgari had the audacity to transform the contrast between gold and steel into a true creative language. What guides us today is precisely the desire to take this pioneering spirit, deeply rooted in our DNA, and reinterpret it in a contemporary key, making these creations lighter, more versatile and suitable for everyday elegance".
In addition to its peculiar aesthetics, steel is lighter than gold and therefore ideal for wearing in 21st century life; however, it is also much more complex to work with, due to its poor malleability and its melting temperature, around 1,300-1,500 degrees compared to gold's 1,064. Its workmanship is therefore also more expensive than that of gold, and requires the very high degree of expertise that Bulgari is among the few maison to possess, and which it preserves and passes on in its manufactures.
"We carefully observe the evolution of taste and sensibilities in the market, and it is in this perspective, for example, that the evolution of one of our iconic collections, B.zero1, fits in," adds Silvestri. With the launch of Gold & Steel, the collection introduces two new rings, a four-band version and a two-band version, in which the iconic spiral expresses the collection's identity through contrast: steel reinforces the architectural soul of the design, recalling the rhythm of ancient Roman columns, while gold lends warmth and definition. The new rings, designed for everyday use, feature a slim and slender profile that enhances the lightness of steel, ensuring natural versatility and the possibility of being worn alone or in combination'.
In the wake of Warhol's intuition, Bulgari has always continued to experiment with new materials, such as ceramic or marble: "We are constantly open to new possibilities and I am fascinated by the idea of looking beyond what is considered conventional today," notes the Bulgari creative director. "It would be nice to imagine materials not yet contemplated in the world of jewellery. Perhaps one coming from the moon'.
