DIAMOND LIFE

Jewellery and watch companies are creating a sparkling presence in the hospitality space

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We craft the hotel as a jewel, with the same attention to details, design, craftsmanship and quality of materials that are common with jewellery.

" So says Silvio Ursini, executive vice president of Bulgari, when asked about the luxury giant’s forays into hospitality, which began in 2004 with its Milan outpost.

That particular hotel - with its beautifully crafted Zimbabwe black marble fixtures, cream linen-papered walls, glimmering mosaic pool and three-Michelin-star cuisine - truly validates what is, at face value, a quixotic remark from Ursini: as, indeed, do the 11 Bulgari hotels opened since. And so, no doubt, will its Resort Ranfushi, set to open on Raa Atoll in the Maldives in the coming months.

But when it comes to watches and jewellery brands branching into hospitality - a burgeoning trend, over the last two decades, with culinary ventures and private clubs in the mix as well as hotels - there’s more to it than simply scaling up what you do best and creating profitable spin-offs.

Certainly, in the cases where goods are stocked, hospitality outposts act as merchandise mothlights. At an event previewing Audemars Piguet's three-storey Georgian townhouse on Manchester's prestigious King Street (which finally opened in May), the UK general manager Daniel Compton said: "We're a high-value, low-volume brand, and we love the social interaction and relationship building. The Audemars Piguet houses give us that intimacy, and they give us the chance to give people discretion, but also allow us to explore the brand with newcomers."