The Stud: From Jewelry to Watchmaking – the ‘Gold & Steel’ Aesthetic
Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule embodies a vision of Bvlgari style that moves effortlessly between jewellery and watchmaking, through the inspired union of gold and steel. The Maison brings three iconic creations into dialogue – the Serpenti reptile, its supple Tubogas body, and the “clou” stud – revealing the striking beauty born of contrasting materials.
Drawn from Bvlgari’s jewellery vocabulary, the stud inscribes its distinctive geometry onto the supple Tubogas bracelet. Its pyramidal facets punctuate the curves, transforming the bracelet into a sculptural jewel. First introduced in Bvlgari jewellery – bracelets and necklaces – the stud lends a new dimension to the sensual silhouette of the Serpenti Tubogas watch. Polished or gem-set, it enhances the contemporary character of this legendary reptile.
Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule: A New Expression of an Icon in Motion
Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule crystallizes Bvlgari’s identity: cultural heritage, assertive codes, and renowned craftsmanship. At the heart of this creation, the serpent – a defining figure of the Maison – unfolds its symbolism of transformation, power, and rebirth.
“With the Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule collection, we once again affirm Bvlgari's daring vision in watchmaking. This is not merely a watch, but a masterpiece where jewelry and industrial design converge, fusing gold and steel in a distinctive 'Gold & Steel' aesthetic. We have reinterpreted the stud, an icon from our archives, to add it to the Tubogas bracelet, thereby creating a perfect harmony between tradition and modernity. This demonstrates our unique savoir-faire, where every technical detail and every aesthetic choice contribute to making the Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule a charismatic signature of contemporary watchmaking, capable of telling a story and projecting into the future”, explained Jonathan Brinbaum, Managing Director of Bvlgari Watches.
The first Serpenti watches appeared in the 1940s, alongside Tubogas bracelets, at the crossroads of industrial design and jewelry artistry. This emblematic technique, based on the precise winding of fine metal bands, became a hallmark of the Maison in the 1970s. With Tubogas also came “Gold & Steel,” a visionary gesture by Bvlgari that plays on the duality of material and expression. The nobility of the former meets the strength of the latter. This mastered contrast stems from a true technical feat – an aesthetic rooted in originality that continues to guide the Maison.
Today, Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule carries this story forward. The lines of the stud, drawn from Bvlgari’s jewelry design archives, recast the architectural and hypnotic silhouette of Serpenti Tubogas. The “Gold & Steel” alliance, echoing the audacity of the 1970s, takes shape in the studs forged in gold and set against the sleek surface of steel, creating a subtle interplay of textures and chromatic contrasts with fluid modernity. Technically demanding, this alliance expands the creation’s design language. Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule stands as the charismatic signature of a Maison in constant evolution.
The Avant-Garde Spirit
Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule unfolds in four limited editions – each as much a design object as a jewelry watch. One version is rendered entirely in yellow gold, while three others channel the captivating bicolor “Gold & Steel” aesthetic – an uncompromising pairing of materials with striking presence.
True to its “Master of Colors” legacy, Bvlgari enhances gold and steel with the chromatic depth of stone and mother-of-pearl dials. These vibrant hues celebrate the Maison’s historic mastery in the ancient art of selecting and pairing stones and mother-of-pearl.
Carnelian meets a Tubogas crafted in yellow gold, creating a radiant and precious presence. The depth of red underscores the bold visual impact of studs set with three brilliant-cut diamonds on each facet. The mother-of-pearl, sodalite, and malachite variations explore the avant-garde alliance of gold and steel – one of the Maison’s defining signatures since the 1970s.
Mother-of-pearl lends its iridescent shimmer to the reptile, accented with touches of yellow gold on the dial. Polished yellow gold studs intensify, through contrast, the softness of the Tubogas bracelet. The blue sodalite version has a more mineral quality, highlighted by alternating rose gold and steel along the serpent’s body. The malachite dial follows this same interplay between noble metal and steel, with a face veined in deep green. Each rose gold stud, set with diamonds, captures the light hypnotically.
Through these variations, Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule reveals Bvlgari’s ability to orchestrate color, gold, and steel in a coherent, expressive, and contemporary design language.
Geometric, precious, and charismatic, Serpenti Tubogas Studs Capsule embodies Bvlgari’s storied heritage and avant-garde aesthetic. “Gold & Steel” becomes a creative medium, capable of reimagining icons. This jewelry watch, with its bold personality, reveals the pioneering spirit of the Roman jeweler and its unmistakable elegance, driven by the unexpected.
An iconic vision of Gold & Steel in jewelry
Spanning across creative territories, Gold & Steel redefines itself as a defining language of Bvlgari, moving seamlessly across jewelry and watch making. Steel, a durable material traditionally associated with the industrial world yet notoriously complex to shape in jewelry-making, is brought into dialogue with the nobility of gold: a union of opposites that only the Roman Maison has dared to envision.
At Watches & Wonders 2026, Bvlgari explores this iconic combination of materials with two new B.zero1 rings and a Bvlgari Tubogas parure, presented alongside a curated selection from the Bvlgari Heritage Jewelry collection. Together, these creations highlight the brand’s enduring mastery of unexpected material pairings, reinterpreted today in some of the Maison’s most daring and contemporary designs.
The powerful spiral of the B.zero1 ring is reinterpreted in steel, heightening its sense of movement and architectural identity. The contrast with radiant yellow gold defines two iconic variations: the two-band and four-band designs, while their slim, streamlined profile emphasizes steel’s lightness, ensuring comfort and everyday versatility.
Alongside this exploration, the new Bvlgari Tubogas necklace and bracelet extend this dialogue: through an authentic blend of materials bridging heritage and modernity, technical mastery is expressed in sculptural, sophisticated silhouettes defined by flexible steel and gold studs.
This contemporary expression finds direct resonance in emblematic Bvlgari Heritage collection creations from the early 1970s, when the Maison first transformed the fusion of gold and steel into an aesthetic statement. A Parentesi bracelet-watch, a Parentesi Tubogas choker set with sapphire, onyx and diamonds, and a Tubogas bracelet bear witness to a fearless vision that elevated industrial materials into visionary jewelry design.
