The Bulgari brand is deservedly the synonym for beauty, uniqueness and luxury. But as the manager of the Bulgari boutique Silvia Patrová points out, the brand’s pieces are not only meant for special events. “We wish for our clients to wear them every day, not store them in safes,” she says.
A traditional question to start us off - what news has Bulgari got planned for this year?
We are preparing several new lines within the existing collections Serpenti, B.zero1, and Diva’s Dream, new models of watches, and also a collection of bags for spring, summer, autumn and winter. As is our tradition, we will present a new High Jewellery collection, in Rome this time, the birthplace of the Bulgari brand. After all, Bulgari is celebrating an important anniversary this year - one hundred and forty years since its founding. In September, we will present a completely new collection. I can reveal that it will once again lean on the brand’s history and tradition, and its typical design. But I will keep all the details to myself for now.
The Serpenti or B.zero1 collections are a Bulgari trademark, could you introduce the less famous Save the Children collection a little more?
I wouldn’t call it less famous, because it was introduced all the way back in 2009, and over the past 15 years, the sales of jewelry from this collection, supported by many world-famous people, have helped over two million children from almost forty different countries. Alongside Save the Children, Bulgari focuses on education, because we believe that only educated people can change the future. Thanks to this support, ???????? thousand teachers have been trained, across more than five thousand schools in areas affected by wars, extreme poverty, or other emergencies. By purchasing a piece of jewelry from this collection, anyone can help create a better future. The selection includes three necklaces (we introduced a new model this year), a ring and a bracelet. The collection is universal, fitting for women as well as men.
You spoke about a typical design, what does that entail for Bulgari?
First and foremost we are proud of the brand as a whole, and the logo which is a characteristic sign of our products and refers to our long tradition and history. We’ve also let history inspire us when placing the logo on our products. The same way Roman emperors had their likeness minted onto coins, which was an expression of their power and influence, so does Bulgari depict its logo on jewelry or watches. For example, we have a collection of watches, where a double Bulgari logo is depicted on the bezel. Certain collections are also typical for Bulgari, be it Serpenti with its snake-shaped jewelry, made famous by Elizabeth Taylor, or the B.zero1 collection with a significant element of a spring on its rings. All in all, a distinctive design is what’s typical for Bulgari, we are not a brand that means to stand in the background.
From the private screening of the movie The Aspern Papers, with the director Julien Landais (left) and actor Nicholas Hau.
Do you agree that luxury equals uniqueness?
Definitely. Bulgari offers lines and collections that are significant, timeless - after all, our entire portfolio is timeless. I believe that the uniqueness lies mostly in the fact that we are the only jewelry company capable of irrreproducibly combining different precious stones, be it their colors or cut, and we can create true masterpieces. Aside from that, Bulgari also offers limited editions of jewelry, bags and watches, and within the High Jewellery line, the pieces are made in singular copies, which makes them truly unique.
Will I find the same selection of products in every Bulgari branch?
Typical Bulgari collections are on offer in all boutiques, but none of them do - or can, considering regular sales - include a hundred percent of all of our products. Availability is based on the region, the size of the boutique and its turnover, but that’s mostly a matter of business. But it’s possible to find a piece in the Pařížská street boutique that isn’t on offer anywhere else in the world.
Do people consider buying jewelry a good investment?
People trust money less and less, they diversify their investments, and deposit their funds into gold, the price of which continues to grow, into precious stones or jewelry in general, into watches. The demand for limited edition jewelry, for unique pieces, continues to grow. These unique products may include a precious stone you might not be able to find anywhere else, and so the price of such a jewel grows with time. What I personally like about investing in jewelry is the aspect of ancestral heritage, and diversifying the portfolio for future generations. The idea of inheriting a beautiful ring from my Grandmother that I could then continue to wear thanks to its timelessness, makes me very happy.
A piece from the Save the Children collection.
Bulgari also creates jewelry for everyday wear, not only for special events, isn’t that so?
In this gloomy weather, when the mood isn’t always joyful, we should indulge in taking out a more colorful piece of jewelry, thanks to which we can feel much better. I personally love more distinctive pieces even on normal days. I enjoy putting on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, paired with colorful earrings or maybe a more distinctive ring. Our jewelry isn’t just meant for special events. We wish for our clients to wear them every day, not store them in safes, for the pieces to wait for their opportunity, or just stay preserved for future generations. Wearing jewelry should first and foremost be a joy and a pleasure. And our jewelry, owing to quality workmanship, is really nice to wear.
Where are Bulgari products created, and who is behind them?
The jewelry is created exclusively in Italy, same goes for the leather accessories, and watch making happens in Switzerland. We have a team of designers for the regular collections, the High Jewellery collection is prepared for us by Luca Silvestri. We put a great emphasis on the quality of the gemstones. That’s why Luca Silvestri and her team travel all over the world and select the best pieces at auctions. The gemstone mustn’t be dark, must have a spark of life inside, for the resulting jewel to help its wearer shine as well, for it to shine even in areas where light conditions aren’t ideal. When a truly unique and rare gemstone is purchased, the jewelry is designed around it, to highlight its features.
We’ve been talking about jewelry, but Bulgari has also seen success with its watches...
We might be too young a watch manufacturer for some, but in spite of that, our watches have won important awards, and even hold several world records. In the Octo Finissimo line, it’s the award for the thinnest automatic watch in the world, or the thinnest Minute Repeater. When the watch fair in Basel still existed, we regularly introduced new products in the thinnest watch line, and we’ve continued that line of work.
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Silvia Patrová (born in 1981 in Bratislava) is the manager of the BULGARI boutique.
She graduated from the College of Economics in Bratislava, majoring in banking.
She worked as an assistant in the Olympus, assistant to the CEO in the HSBC Bank Bratislava, then in LBBW (private banking department), and then in BULGARI for the past thirteen years.
She is single, lives in Prague, and counts travel and sports among her biggest hobbies.
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