There is no red carpet quite like the Academy Awards, and no jeweller with deeper roots in Hollywood's most glamorous night than Bvlgari. The Roman jeweller has dressed generations of leading ladies, from Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman to Zendaya and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and at the 98th Academy Awards it pulled off something spectacular: a global preview of two extraordinary creations from its forthcoming Eclettica high jewellery collection, worn by two of the most photographed women in the world.
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Eclettica is not due to be officially unveiled until later this month, but in a daring masterstroke, Bvlgari chose Hollywood's most iconic night to give the world its first glimpse.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas (above), one of Bvlgari's most devoted and long-standing global ambassadors, wore the Serpenti Illusio high jewellery necklace. The necklace (below) is built around a 14.01-carat antique cushion-cut sapphire from Madagascar whose deep, saturated blue anchors a dazzling composition of pavé diamonds, buff-top emeralds and onyx. At first glance the necklace appears to be a hypnotic geometry of diamonds that slowly, almost imperceptibly, reveals itself to be a serpent, Bvlgari's most iconic symbol is brought to life as a contemporary bas-relief. Composed of 235 individual elements over more than 1,300 hours of work, such is the subtlety of the design, that the more you look, the more you see. Paired with a high jewellery diamond ring and earrings, Chopra Jonas wore the look with the easy confidence for the world to see as she stepped onto the red carpet in a Dior strapless white gown with a feather-trimmed slit.
Anne Hathaway, equally at home in Bvlgari, chose the Neoclassical Starlight high jewellery necklace (below), a platinum creation of an entirely different character. At its heart sits an extraordinary 8.02-carat pear-cut Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond, a stone prized above all for its rare, even colour distribution. The gem is set in a detachable pendant and surrounded by a constellation of pear, round and step-cut diamonds, bringing the total diamond weight to over 35 carats. The inspiration is Antonio Canova, the great Neoclassical sculptor, with a luminous clarity and perfect equilibrium evocative of another era, reinterpreted for today. It took Bvlgari's master jewellers 850 hours to bring it to life.
Both necklaces embody the spirit of Eclettica, inspired by sculpture, painting and architecture, that draws on Bvlgari's Roman heritage yet pushes the idea of high jewellery somewhere altogether more ambitious. The collection's title says everything, as each jewel is eclectic, free of hierarchy, and boldly imaginative. For a Maison that has always worn its artistic audacity lightly, this feels like a natural next step. And if these two extraordinary pieces are anything to go by, the full reveal later this month will be worth the wait.
