Bulgari was founded in 1884 by Sotirio Bulgari, a Greek silversmith who had been displaced by war. Sotirio was robbed of everything in Naples and overcame great adversity to open his first store in Rome. He and his sons initially specialised in silver, largely catering to the tourist market before focusing exclusively on fine jewelry.

By the 1930s, Bulgari’s distinctive style had begun to emerge with the creation of the first ‘Trombino’ (“little trumpet”) ring. The first ‘Serpenti’ jewel followed during the late 1940s. As an ancient symbol of rebirth and eternal love, Bulgari paid homage to Rome’s ancient origins and the Eternal City’s romantic association with Cleopatra. The complex techniques required to imitate the form of a serpent coiling around a wrist were perfected during the 1960s and 1970s and today, the Serpenti collection of jewelry is regarded as one of Bulgari’s most iconic lines.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Rome become a popular location for shooting Hollywood’s star-studded Roman epics and Bulgari’s store on the Via Condotti attracted an impressive and international clientele of high-profile actors and socialites. It was through this highly publicised association that Bulgari came to epitomise La Dolce Vita, then very much in vogue in Europe and America. During this era, Bulgari began to break away from the trends previously set by other European jewellers. The distinctive feature that really came to set them apart was their bold and unrestrained use of colour. Bulgari had become very active in the Indian market during the 1950s, buying up coloured diamonds and gemstones of exceptional quality, some with ancestral provenance. This cultural journey and Bulgari’s inspired use of colour, are evoking the true spirit of Italian glamour.