evolving glamour: BULGARI at Saatchi Gallery

Jewellery brand BULGARI celebrated the anniversary of its Serpenti Collection in the celebrated Saatchi Gallery in London. The Serpenti collection was first created by founder Soutirios Boulgaris in the 1940s and has been worn by various Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Charlize Theron, and Michelle Yeoh.

Rachel Weisz campaign for Bulgari,
photo courtesy of The Cut

Boulgaris created his Serpenti pieces by pioneering a style called Tubogas, in which the bracelet or watch would wrap around the wearer's wrist like a snake in the style of Ancient Rome, instead of being fashioned by a clasp. 

Elizabeth Taylor photo from La Presse,
courtesy of Vogue

After Elizabeth Taylor was seen with one on the set of Cleopatra, Serpenti was adopted by other fashion leaders. Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland even wore her Serpenti belt as a necklace!

Diana Vreeland in her apartment. Photo from The Cut.

Bulgari partnered with digital artist Refik Anadol to create an installation to celebrate the Serpenti Collection. This Turkish artist is a master of AI imaging and lecturer in UCLA's Design Media Arts Department.

The artist was first invited to Milan to debut his work for Bulgari. Serpenti Metamorphosis is an immersive installation featuring a serpent that evolves into ever-mutating and flowing forms, based on images from both the collection and the natural world.

To create the installation, Refik Anadol used hundreds of thousands of images of flowers, snakes, botanical forms, and the images of the Serpenti collection. He created a program that could learn the patterns and evolution of flowers to weave an abstract version of the serpent in the garden of Eden. 

The exhibition was such a success that Bulgari and Anadol partnered with that London bastion of cutting edge contemporary art, the Saatchi Gallery. The jewellery brand even installed a massive glittering snake necklace at the gallery entrance.

Outside the mirrored box housing the Refik Anadol installation, there were glass cases displaying many of the most iconic pieces of the Serpenti collection.

From watches displaying the coiled Tubogas technique, to snakes covered in precious stones, the pieces showed the artistry, technical skill and whimsical invention of one of Rome's most creative jewellery brands.

Some of the snake bracelets were hiding a little secret: they were also watches, holding the timepieces in their mouths. Bulgari had originally outsourced the manufacture of the watch parts of their jewellery (known as movements) to watchmakers like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin, but in 1978 they opened a factory to make them in-house.

My favourite part of the jewellery display were the skeleton necklaces for the Serpenti collection, the prototypes made straight from the designer's own sketches.

These woven serpents with empty settings waiting for jewels looked like little hollow creatures, like aliens or bones. In a way they were: the bones of the Serpenti collection, waiting to receive the bedecking of gems that made them icons.

We were thrilled to get this peek into these great minds: the genius artisans of the past and present collaborating with the brilliant minds of future technological achievements. What a collaboration; an ouroboros of ideas for us to enjoy.

We hope to see more of these collaborations and exchanges in the future.