Bulgari Celebrates 125 Years With Retrospective Show

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 14th 2009 at 11:01AM

Bulgari is celebrating 125 years of legendary jewels with the first retrospective in the brand's history. "Between History and Eternity" 1884-2009 will open on May 20 at Il Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and will be open to the public from May 22 to September 13, 2009. This comprehensive display will feature over 500 pieces of jewelry, watches and objets d'art. The pieces have come from Bulgari's Historical Archives as well as private collectors from all around the world. The retrospective will also feature a collection of never-before seen sketches, drawings and photographs of artists, aristocrats and celebrities who have worn Bulgari over the years.

The exhibition tells the story of the brand chronologically through eight galleries starting with a collection of silver works from the late 19th century crafted by Sotirio Bulgari, the Greek silversmith who founded the company. The original Bulgari moved to Rome in search of fortune, and these pieces represent the beginning of Bulgari. Other galleries will focus on Art Deco, jewels of the 1940s and 1950s, Bulgari's stylized pieces from the 1960s, the Pop Art pieces of the 1970s, the bold designs of the 1980s, pieces from the 1990s and finally a gallery that showcases the most magnificent creations of the new millennium, including a diamond necklace valued at over 20 million euros. An entire room will be reserved for Elizabeth Taylor's personal Bulgari collection: sixteen one-of-a-kind pieces including the diamond and 18 carat emerald brooch that Richard Burton gave Taylor as an engagement present in 1962. It was the only piece of jewelry that she wore for her first wedding with Burton on March 15, 1964 (and for the always-ornamented Taylor that's really saying something).

Francesco Trapani, CEO of the Bulgari Group says that "to visit the exhibition will be to embrace the entire history of a style that has endured for generations and transcended boundaries of every kind, passing down to our own time that unique taste for innovation and detail inspired by the heritage of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the inexhaustible quest for new creative solutions that has made Bulgari one of the world's preeminent luxury brands."

Tags: bulgari, jewels