Jewelry Fit for a 1960s It Girl

Born in 1857 right into a household of silversmiths in Kalarites, Greece, Sotirios Boulgaris relocated to Rome at age 24 and, three years later, arrange a boutique not removed from the Spanish Steps. In 1905, twenty years after founding Bulgari, its identify an Italianized variant of Boulgaris, he opened a bigger retailer, the Previous Curiosity Store (a reference to a Charles Dickens novel), on Through dei Condotti, the place he bought glass fragrance bottles, Byzantine silver artifacts and neo-Hellenic objects. When his sons Giorgio and Constantino inherited the household enterprise after their father’s demise in 1932, they expanded into excessive jewellery, taking part in with Artwork Deco accents and geometric motifs. By the Fifties, the home of Bulgari was already well-known for its eye-catching mixture of treasured and multicolored stones. Influenced by the cupolas on basilicas throughout Rome, the model’s trademark vibrant cabochons — clean, rounded stones that don’t refract gentle the best way faceted gems do — turned ubiquitous. A yellow gold bib necklace from 1968, with its emeralds, amethysts and turquoise stones, epitomized the daring chromatic mixtures of the period and was worn by the Higher East Facet It lady Lyn Revson, the spouse of the cosmetics magnate Charles Revson, a co-founder of Revlon.

Impressed by that archival piece, Bulgari’s new rose-gold Lotus Cabochon riffs on that experimental heritage. Formed like a collar, the necklace conjures the petals of a lotus flower, an emblem of rebirth, whereas its daring coloration mixtures add an sudden sense of caprice. Over 1,400 hours of handcrafted artistry have been required to form and set the intertwined jewels: pebble-like rubellites, Zambian emeralds, turquoise from Arizona and Brazilian amethyst cabochons. The outcome would make even the unique patriarch proud.