MILAN — Rome, Bulgari’s birthplace, is clearly eclectic, “a place where centuries of art coexist and inspire each other, and our new high jewelry collection, ‘Eclettica,’ distills this spirit: different worlds, different arts, converging into one unmistakably creative language, unique to Bulgari,” said chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Babin.

He underscored the importance and the eclecticism of the Italian capital, as much as that of Milan, where the collection was unveiled Monday at a show that featured live musicians and dancers, 3D screens and live models wearing the stunning jewels along with gowns by Francesco Murano. It was preceded by a dinner with celebrities including Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dua Lipa, Liu Yifei and Kim Ji Won, as well as scores of high-spending Bulgari clients dripping in jewelry.

“The city is the fastest-growing one in Europe, and where there is an incredible new flow of very wealthy people,” Babin said. Milan also attracts “the most diversified groups of people, so we thought that it was probably the city best fitting with the concept of eclecticism.”

For the first time, Bulgari opted to present its high jewelry collection in March and not in May. Most jewelers have opted to unveil their high jewelry collections in May, making it difficult for clients to make numerous trips in one month, he argued.

“We thought March was ideal, a window in the calendar we wanted to try,” he explained, coming after the international fashion weeks, and before Watches and Wonders in Geneva in April and the cruise collections in May and June, although he stopped short of committing to the month in the future.

Exceptional Gems

To be sure, the pressure was on the Bulgari artisans who had to go the extra mile to complete the works of wonder making up the Eclettica collection, two months earlier than usual. But they succeeded — and then some.

At the heart of the 150-piece collection of new high jewelry were nine exceptional creations — one the Capolavori, or masterpieces in English, are examples of excellence in craftsmanship and creativity — a skill that Bulgari now terms “artmanship,” combining artistic creativity and craftsmanship. The lineup includes 15 transformable creations, and more than 50 millionaire jewels.

“Eclectic is a word that defines Bulgari, and our creative process finds its vital energy from diversity and contrast, and in shaping Eclettica, I was guided by sculpture, painting and architecture, for creations that embody the harmony of contrast and are transformed into wearable art,” said Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s jewelry creative director. “Sculpture inspires tridimensional volumes that play with light and shadow. Painting offers a chromatic vocabulary where gemstones act as precious strokes of color, orchestrated in vibrant and unexpected harmonies and architecture introduces rhythm, balance and proportion.”

However, Silvestri’s first inspiration is always the gem. Case in point, speaking at Milan’s exquisite Villa Necchi, ahead of the event to be held later that evening at the 17th-century Villa Arconati, Silvestri enthused about the 26.65-carat Padparadscha sapphire from Sri Lanka, at the center of the Secret Garden necklace.

An exceptionally rare pink-orange gem, it had long been pursued by Silvestri, who also purchases the gems for Bulgari. “It was love at first sight…the balance of pink and orange is simply extraordinary. You cannot find another one in this size and so beautiful,” she contended. In the light, the sapphire appears almost aflame, she pointed out. Around the stone’s singularity, the composition is defined by meticulously calibrated details: baguettes paired with round cuts, onyx inlays, purple sapphires interspersed with cabochon emeralds, all “carefully harmonized, soft and very feminine,” she said of the necklace, which had already been sold.

Inspired by ancient Corinthian columns, the Emerald Strata necklace in rose gold reinterprets the verticality of architectural design through a fluid, cravat-like silhouette. At its core is a layout of five 26.05-carat sugarloaf emeralds from Zambia, from which layers of buff-top emeralds and pavé diamonds descend in symmetry. Despite its structure, Silvestri was aiming for a jewel that would be “very, very light and comfortable, draping like a fabric around the neck,” remaining remarkably supple. Nearly a year was required to source emeralds of this caliber, Silvestri said.

Inspired by the geometries of Art Deco, the Seres Scarf necklace elevates transformability. Structured in white gold and composed of more than 1,180 individual components shaped and arranged more than 1,600 hours of craftsmanship, the necklace flows like a woven ribbon, echoing the feminine figures in Tamara de Lempicka’s portraits. Sapphires and emeralds form a chromatic weave that can wrap or cascade around the neck, while a detachable brooch centered on a sculptural 31.90-carat sugarloaf sapphire from Sri Lanka can be placed nearly anywhere along the necklace.

“Our clients very much appreciate the fact that they can wear it in different ways — and it’s eclectic,” Silvestri said.

Similarly, the Eclectic Embrace collar, inspired by the Castle of Sammezzano, near Florence, featuring the Moorish Revival architectural style, was designed in white gold and translated Moorish mosaics and arabesques into an architectural jewel. At its center lies a richly saturated 10.12-carat octagonal Colombian emerald, framed by pavé-set diamonds, emeralds and black onyx, each stone custom-cut like a tesserae. Though boldly geometric, the collar, which took more than 1,000 hours to make, moves with softness through 180 modular elements.

As reported, brand ambassadors Chopra Jonas and Hathaway unveiled two of the Eclettica jewels at the Oscars earlier this month and the Milan event took place as Bulgari just wrapped up its “best year ever” in 2025, Babin said proudly, which means “the brand has entered 2026 with a very strong traction. Showing in March capitalizes on this traction.”

Business Around the World

Bulgari held a jewelry event in Dubai in December and, asked to comment on the Middle East given the war in the region, Babin said clients from the area flew into Milan for Monday’s event, generally on private planes, and that he expected others to attend an event scheduled in July on the French Riviera. The Bulgari Hotel in Dubai is open and the intention is to keep it open, he said.

“Marking the end of Ramadan on March 19, we had more than 60 percent occupancy of locals. Staycations were invented during COVID-19 and a now these are safecations,” he said.

Bulgari is working on erecting a resort and hotel in Abu Dhabi with Emaar Properties set on the horseshoe-shaped Private Island, comprising 60 rooms and suites, 30 villas and 90 mansions. Babin is also spearheading projects in Saudi Arabia, where Bulgari has three boutiques directly owned in Riyadh and one in Jeddah. “We continue to invest in the region, which is more resilient than we could imagine,” he said.

Both under the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton umbrella, Loro Piana and Bulgari “have been the group’s two fastest-growing luxury brands in the U.S.,” Babin said.

The region now represents “a very substantial market, showing a strong double-digit growth in the first quarter, and it’s the second behind China, which still holds the number-one position for us, and surpassed [South] Korea and Japan.”

He attributed this gain to “long seeding, we have invested and invested over the years, it’s a very competitive market and it has taken time” to see the rewards. He praised Hervé Perrot, president of Bulgari North America since September 2022, for having boosted business in the region, raising the guest experience “tremendously” in stores. After opening a series of stores in the U.S., the number will total 35 there by the end of the year.

“Korea keeps growing and growing and growing incredibly, and they are really passionate about luxury and jewelry in particular,” said Babin, adding that the goal is also to open a hotel in Seoul, “probably the trendiest city in Asia.”

Asked about the rising price of gold, Babin said the category is resilient, “because jewelry is the only financial pleasure you can enjoy and it’s artsmanship, a mix of artistry and craftsmanship, so you are wearing art, and art is a most beautiful thing for humankind.”

However, he admitted the high price of gold has reduced the number of clients who can afford gold jewelry, so Bulgari has shifted its CRM and clienteling activities, “rebalancing more toward existing clients and providing them with new creativity and good reasons to return” to the brand.

Also, he said Bulgari’s B. zero1 collection in ceramics is coming back to the market “because it’s beautiful and obviously the weight of gold is replaced by the weight of ceramic, making a big price difference.”