Lucia Silvestri, 65, is a woman who knows her mind. She has just wrapped up a sourcing trip to Rajasthan and her eyes gleam with the glow of the uncut emeralds and rubies that she is on the brink of acquiring. "When I see a stone I like, I never say, My God, so beautiful.' It takes months of negotiations that continue long after I have left the city until I finally have what I want."
Silvestri shares a special relationship with gemstones. She feels their energy. "In Jaipur, there is a special energy because of the gems. You can feel it everywhere," she explains, gesticulating with her hands, each stacked with Serpenti bracelets. The colours add to her positive mood, she explains. "I can talk to the gemstones. I have a relationship with them. I look at them and I say, 'Buongiorno, how are you?' every morning."
At Bulgari, she is both the chief gems buyershopping for the house's spectacular stones and the jewellery creative director overseeing the process of turning said gems into stunning pieces. In 2019, she celebrated 40 years of working with the Roman jewellery house. She was hired as a secretary at the brand (when it was just five stores strong) and a business lesson she learned from the Bulgari brothers-"Don't buy a gemstone until you know how you are going to use it"-continues to hold her in good stead. Today, she emulates that via the 93-carat cabochon-cut Jaipur emerald that sits delicately in the mouth of the Serpenti snake in the form of a lucid green egg.
Esta historia es de la edición July - August 2023 de VOGUE India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July - August 2023 de VOGUE India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
HEART AT WORK
London is a stomping ground for many South Asian creatives. AKANKSHA KAMATH meets an artist, an author-stylist and the duo behind a first-of-its-kind label on Savile Row to see what their work desks reveal about their unique expression
TSUNAINA
Otherworldly and bewitching are two words associated with the multi-hyphenate model. But who is the person behind the sculptured mask?
Viscountess of Hearts
She was catapulted into the stratosphere as Bridgerton's leading lady in 2022, but Simone Ashley is quite enjoying the descent as the spotlight shifts to a new couple this season. Speaking with Grammy Award nominee and fellow South Asian artiste Anoushka Shankar, she reflects on navigating fame, where she's headed next and if her path will lead her to India
Waning and waxing
The terror of inherited trauma always made SHYAMA LAXMAN keep her mother at arm's length. Now, with both of them older and wiser, there's a new dynamic to their relationship
Three's company
For as long as she can remember, SADAF SHAIKH has only ever hung out with her friends in groups, rarely one-on-one. Finally, she enlists help to excavate her passive pal origin story
Welcome to paradise
In the heart of the Mediterranean, a sisterhood gathers to pray, paint watercolours and pursue peace through spiritualism. MEDINA TREVATHAN reflects on the heaven to be found within The Women Sanctuary
The long game
Tamannaah Bhatia knows exactly what her skin needs-simple rituals, serums and stress-free days.
Current affairs
Can you plug into better skin with microcurrent therapy?
Ice me out
Torture method or genius life hack? NIDHI GUPTA investigates whether ice baths are really as cool as they're cracked up to be
She's got the look
Pop on a Punjabi song, fill a bowl with ice and get ready to immerse yourself in Kriti Sanon's skincare universe