BULGARI AFTERNOON TEA DISCOVERING FESTA HIGH JEWELLERY
When Bulgari invites you for afternoon tea to celebrate their new FESTA high jewellery collection celebrating joy and happiness, you know you have to get into the spirit of the occasion by wearing something stunning. I chose red to celebrate FESTA and the joy of Italian art de vivre.
I made my way to the Bulgari flagship boutique in London Mayfair on New Bond Street to preview, they were sorry to tell me, only a few remaining pieces from the FESTA collection. So beautiful and inspiring is this collection celebrating joy and happiness, that they’re being purchased quickly and often by jewellery lovers and aficionados and there’s more than 100 jewels in the entire collection!
I love the newly refurbished boutique, especially the first floor with its high ceilings and grand sense of Italian style, much like their fabulous hotel – Bulgari Bali – where I celebrated my birthday earlier this year.
“The main inspiration of the Festa collection is a celebration of happiness and sharing that joy with others. The Festa runs deep in our way of life and is very much a part of the Italian art de vivre you can find in Rome, Venice, Tuscany, Puglia, everywhere in Italy. Bulgari loves to create jewels that give joy and happiness to the women who wear them. A woman who wears Bulgari jewels is a woman with a firm grasp on life, who chooses her own way and makes her destiny larger than anyone would have ever dreamed.” ~ Lucia Silvestri, Director of Creation at Bulgari
Maybe it is the sun or the gorgeous weather or the stunning blue of the Mediterranean sea surrounding this country, Italy has always been renowned for its spirit of joy, happiness and celebration – the art de vivre – and I will be always be in love with it.
Celebrations, no matter how big or small, how private or public, the best are always the Italian parties! Celebrating with a grand sense of style and a palatial joy that would fill a city with brazen authenticity, the FESTA embodies this art de vivre and the BVLGARI attitude as an expression of life in jewellery.
In Italy, festas happen throughout the year to mark special occasions and events dating back to antiquity. One such festa is the Palio, a legendary horse race held in Siena, Tuscany, twice a year in July and August. Two very special pieces in the collection celebrate this legendary race and they are the Palio necklace and bracelet.
The Palio originated in the Middle Ages, but really came into its own in 1729 when Princess Violante of Bavaria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, defined the rules for the race. Ten of the 17 districts (or contrade) of the city of Siena are chosen to participate in the race and each wears representative colours. There are 17 colours in the Palio necklace that took months of collaboration between Bulgari and the city authorities of Siena to get exactly right.
Sometimes jewellery is one of those simple pleasures that takes you back to the joy of childhood memories and those happy times celebrating birthdays, sharing cakes and sweets with loved ones, and of course, opening presents.These are the Festas of childhood that we all treasure in our memories. Some of the jewels in the collection invoke such incredible feelings of happiness and fond memories of simpler times like the rings that look like cakes – pistachio, lemon, raspberry, chocolate, cream – gelati in the shape of pendants, brooches in delicious lime swirls of emeralds, gold, and diamonds, and ice cream made of diamonds and rubies – unfortunately, now all sold out. These happy jewels in gold, enamel, diamonds, tourmalines, turquoises, coral, jade, make up the beautiful new FESTA collection by Bulgari.
Hopefully, next time I will be the first to see these yummy, festive creations before they all sell out. To cheer me up, Bulgari has something special to show me. They know how much I love coloured diamonds, especially blues and pinks. I would swap my yellow diamond engagement ring to pink without thinking twice, and to see blue would be a dream come true! I am all about colour and coloured gemstones and diamonds.
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GEMOLOGUE jewelry blog by Liza Urla is a celebration of fine, fashion and vintage jewellery featuring talented jewellery designers, trendy urban street style, exclusive interviews and rare jewellery reviews. This jewellery blog’s goal is to encourage and educate about jewellery online in a fresh and original fashion to inspire women and men across the globe in a fashion and travelling context.
Jewellery blogger, writer Liza Urla, the founder of GEMOLOGUE, is a London-based and NYC-educated gemologist, who has travelled to and lived in many countries. She is now one of the most influential digital jewellery tastemakers. Her jewellery influence has been acknowledged by Financial Times, The New York Times, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
*Photographed by Julia Flit. Styling and Art Direction by Liza Urla. All photos belong to GEM Kreatives for GEMOLOGUE.
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