Jewellery watches allow brands to give their creativity free reign. And when your brand was born in jewellery, has over a century of experience in producing ladies’ watches and benefits from the Italian design spirit, you can be sure that your collections will have plenty to set themselves apart from the competition. Such is the case with the most recent offerings from Bulgari, which expertly blur the frontiers, with watches turning into jewellery and jewellery turning into watches.
Serpenti – the perpetual renewal of the snake
Just as the snake regularly sheds its skin to allow for further growth, the Serpenti collection grows by constantly reinventing itself. The latest additions to the collection highlight its versatility, running the gamut from the classic Serpenti Twistyourtime watch to the Serpenti Misteriosi Manchette cuff watch. The snake with the articulated mouth found on the Serpenti Misteriosi Manchette and the Serpenti Pallini watches gives the wearer the freedom to have the mouth closed, keeping time a secret, or open, revealing the hours and minutes. Regardless of the choice, both items remain stunning jewellery pieces, set with malachite or onyx and diamonds (with ruby snake eyes for the former and emerald green for the latter).
The Serpenti Pallini brings a further touch of refinement to the coiled-snake design of the Serpenti collection, in which the entire bracelet is made of gold (18-carat rose gold for the body and 18-carat white gold for the tail) and set throughout with brilliant-cut diamonds, which also surround the dial.
If the term minimalist can be applied to such jewellery, then the two Serpenti Seduttori models are the closest that you can get to this idea in this high-end segment. The serpentine rose-gold bangle bracelet, set with black lacquer or diamonds in hexagonal sections that form stylised scales across the snake’s skin, has the secret of a hidden watch dial under the movable snake’s head, with its piercing eyes in amethyst or sapphire.
In the Serpenti Incantati the watch case has a more familiar round form, but as Bulgari likes to remind us with the slogan for its award-winning Octo line, #lifeisnotround. The diamond-set bezel on this watch is enveloped by a snake in rose gold set with malachite to match the malachite dial or mother-of-pearl to match the mother-of-pearl dial. The head and tail of the snake converge at 6 o’clock, giving the illusion of a docile, sleeping snake… until the slightest movement of the wrist wakes it up.
Divas’ Dream Roman Nights
Inspired by the night sky above the Eternal City, the Divas’ Dream Roman Nights offers us a feminine jewellery interpretation with a dark-blue aventurine dial set with diamonds and hour and minute indications by discs rather than hands. This is provided by Bulgari’s in-house BVL 308 “dischi” self-winding calibre. This poetic model is available in 18-carat rose or white gold set with a mixture of diamonds and sapphires with fully set “fan” lugs at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock.
Lvcea with a touch of red
The Tubogas and Skeleton versions of the Lvcea presented earlier this year have been enhanced with a red diamond-set dial for the former and a jewellery version of the latter in 18-carat rose gold with red lacquer hands and a bezel set with diamonds, plus a further 117 diamonds set on the gold letters of the Bulgari name that form the mainplate of the BVL 191SK in-house automatic movement. This model is completed with Bulgari’s unique Tubogas (gas pipe) bracelet in rose gold and lugs set with brilliant-cut diamonds.
Whether you’re looking for a classically-themed ladies watch in gold with a discreet touch of precious stones, or an exquisite all-out jewellery piece for that special occasion, on which the time can be hidden at will, Bulgari has something for you.
