HISTORY LESSON

In 1948, Roman jeweller Bulgari created its first snake-inspired ‘Serpenti’ watch. Since then, the brand’s spirit animal has been reborn and reinvented, standing the test of time via its many avatars. Rishna Shah digs into the archives to learn the secrets of its success

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THE FIRST TIME I MET Bulgari’s creative director Lucia Silvestri was almost a decade ago, on a rainy morning at the Rome headquarters overlooking the Tiber. I watched Silvestri rearranging a table set with gigantic gemstones, a rainbow of carats catching the morning light. But it was her wrist that really caught my attention: a spectacularly sculpted gold snake watch coiled perfectly around her shirt cuff. Like second skin, it gleamed with every gesture, and boy, was it was hard to look away. This was the spell of the ‘Serpenti’. A few months ago, Bulgari’s brand ambassador Priyanka Chopra sat at the very same table with Silvestri to discuss the mangalsutra. Once again, I thought back to Silvestri’s watch—how so many years later it still left an impression, how it lit up a room, how it was still relevant and timeless.

Bulgari’s long-term relationship with the snake began in the 1940s, as a mythical totem for immortality. Over the years, it stayed true to its namesake by shedding its skin and continuously recreating itself, charming old Hollywood and new Bollywood alike (almost every Bollywood A-lister flaunts the bestseller) without losing its lustre. “The ‘Serpenti’ is the maison’s most legendary icon, a symbol of power, seduction and endless metamorphosis,” Silvestri explains over email. “The creature is rooted in the Bulgari family heritage,” agrees Marion Fasel, founder and editorial director of online fine jewellery magazine The Adventurine and the author of Bvlgari: Serpenti Collection. “It forms a link between founder Sotirio Bulgari’s Greek heritage and his adopted home in Rome. The lore of snakes sprung out of ancient mythology from both regions,” adds Fasel, on the significance of the recurring emblem.