Jewel Disclosure

While the incredible scope of the firm’s designs is on full display, the Bulgari history is not nearly as apparent. The house was founded in 1884 around silver bric-a-brac (chatelaines, plates, belt buckles) by Sotirios Boulgaris, a Greek silversmith from the village of Paramythia. (In 1894 he changed his name to the more Italian-sounding Bulgari.) It wasn’t until 1915 that Bulgari began beefing up the jewelry side. “Bulgari comes into its own in the Sixties, the dolce vita period when you can see the cabochons and color mixes. The great innovation is really the mixing together of all different colors of gems,” Triossi explains. “In the Seventies, things get very experimental.” She points to a Buddha sautoir and a Pop art bracelet with pavé diamond stars as two bold examples. (Today the firm is still a family affair; grandsons Paolo and Nicola Bulgari are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, and great-grandson Francesco Trapani is CEO.)

Pulling together the exhibition of 500-plus objets proved plenty challenging. About 60 percent of the pieces came from the Bulgari archives; the rest are on loan from clients and collectors around the world, making the project a treasure hunt of sorts for Triossi and her team. Even the pursuit of a photograph of the first Bulgari shop on Via Sistina, circa 1884, had her workhorse researchers knocking on doors up and down the street. (At press time, the photo was yet to be found.) But there have been a few happy coincidences, too, such as the case of a gold melon-shaped minaudière from the Seventies. Socialite-cum-artist Christina Girard showed up to the jeweler’s 2005 Houston store opening carrying the bag, replete with built-in compartments for lipstick, powder and comb. “My grandfather gave it to my mother when she got married,” says Girard, adding that Bulgari execs photographed the collectible right then and there, later asking if she would loan it to the exhibit.

Yet when it comes to most of the other VIP lenders, including those within the Bulgari family, Triossi is tight-lipped. “People want to remain anonymous for security issues,” she says. Of course, there is one name she’s free to reveal: jewelry aficionada Elizabeth Taylor, who will be honored with her own room in the show. Triossi made a personal trip to Taylor’s Bel-Air, California, bungalow to inspect the gems. “Unfortunately, I didn’t see her,” the curator says. “It was her secretary and a parrot. [Taylor] was upstairs with a toothache.” Of the actress’s 16 loans, the most famous is the Grand Duchess Vladimir emerald and diamond parure given to her by Richard Burton. Another stunner, an emerald ring, was gifted to her during their on-set Cleopatra affair, when Burton was still married to Sybil Williams. The bauble temporarily landed in the hands of Williams, who found it and mistook it as a gift for her. Says Triossi, “She came into the Bulgari store and said, ‘I’m sorry, could you resize this for me?’”