The story behind Bulgari jewelry, an internationally renowned brand.

BVLGARI, founded in 1884, is an Italian jewelry brand. Bulgari takes color as the design essence in jewelry making, creatively uses a variety of gemstones with different colors to match and combine, and then uses bases with different materials to highlight the dazzling colors of gemstones. Bulgari is bold and unique, noble and classical. Balance also combines classical and modern features, breaks through the strict rules of traditional academic design, and creates Bulgari's unique style inspired by Greek elegance, Italian Renaissance and metallurgical technology in the19th century.

Sotirio Boulgaris, the founder of the brand, is Greek. 1879, Sotirio Bulgaris immigrated to Naples, Italy, and his surname was changed to Bulgari, which is closer to Italian pronunciation. 1884, he opened a silverware shop in Rome, specializing in selling exquisite silver carvings.

The Bulgari family, formerly known as Boulgaris, lives in Kallarytes, where Epirus is rich in silverware, and runs a silverware workshop in the footsteps of their father. 1857, Sotiris Boulgaris was born. He is the founder of Bulgari brand. He was an apprentice in his father's silverware workshop, and he mostly made hand-carved silverware such as bracelets, buttons and belt buckles, paying attention to details. At that time, the new Greek style was popular in silverware, emphasizing the revival of ancient Greek culture and many symbolic decorative totems.

The easy life didn't make Sotiris content with the status quo. He went to Italy with Yugoslav goldsmith Demetrios Cremos in the autumn of 1880 and arrived in Rome in February of the following year. Sotiris officially changed her surname to Bulgari, which is closer to Italian pronunciation.

1884 In the spring, Sotiris Bulgari opened the first exclusive store of the brand at No.85 Sistina Street, with the registered category of "Exquisite Works of Marble, Metal and Wood Products". In summer, he took his silver carving ornaments to Saint Moritz to sell them. This handicraft won the appreciation of Mr. Martin Mayer, a big wholesaler, and was bought at once.

Sotiris noticed that in addition to the Romans, the major customers who patronized the store were more tourists from France, Germany, Britain and the United States, who regarded the ethnic jewelry made by traditional craftsmen as "authentic craftsmanship". Looking at this market, Sotiris Bulgari silver ornaments in the 1980s of 19, following the shadow of new Greece in my father's Georgis era, have strong elements of ancient Greek mythology and fable, and become a model of "Greek craftsmen making traditional crafts in ancient Greece" in Rome, and the business is booming. While expanding the store, Sotiris began to look for experienced craftsmen from relatives and friends in Greece and recruited talented people as apprentices.

Sotiris Bulgari is a flexible businessman, and his business has expanded rapidly. From the 65438+90' s, Bulgari gradually played down the style of "New Greece" and became more relaxed and feminine. For example, the flowers and leaves on the bracelet are hollow, and the lines are beautiful and smooth. The mixed style of local traditional handicrafts in Corfu Island, which is more inclined to be influenced by British tourists for a long time, has formed the "commemorative jewelry" that modern westerners are obsessed with in the future, which is enough to show Sotiris Bulgari's keen international vision. 1894 The second store is located at No.28 Via dei Condotti Street at the foot of Trinita dei Monti. Next, Bulgari also set up branches in Naples, San Moritz, San Remo and sorrento, and set up seasonal guerrilla stores in Lucerne and Bellagio.

1905165438+1October 13. Bulgari opened its third store in 10 through dei Condotti Street (now Bulgari's flagship store in Rome). Sotiris directly borrowed the title of British writer Dickens and wrote a bigger and more conspicuous English shop name "Old Heritage Shop" under the signboard of Little S Bulgari, which consciously attracted British and American tourists.

Although their ancestral home is Greece, the six brothers and sisters of the second generation of Bulgari family were all born and educated in Italy, and their aesthetic attainments and business practices are very Italian, which makes the brand have distinctive characteristics. After the outbreak of World War II, the Bulgari family was sworn in as Italian citizens.

Costantino, the eldest son who inherited the family business, and George Bulgari, the second son, were born in 1889 and 1890 respectively. The former has a lofty academic status, while the latter is cultivated by his father Sotiris, who has both business skills and artistic talent. Together, they made Bulgari synonymous with wealth, elegance, chic and innovation, and strode forward on the broad road of "senior jewelers" to shine brilliantly.

As the eldest son, Constantino Bulgari devoted herself to the academic field, studying the lost jewelry skills. He is a famous antique collector in Italy. One of his great contributions is to systematically sort out the goldsmiths and silversmiths of every era in Italian history. From 1958 to 1974, he published five volumes of Italian goldsmiths, jewelers and goldsmiths, which are still the most complete works of Italian goldsmiths and silversmiths in the world.

In the preface, Constantino dedicated this book to his younger brother George, thanking him for taking on the important task of family business and unconditionally supporting his academic investment. Constantino's academic status in the jewelry industry is lofty, which indirectly enhances the brand's industry weight. It is no joke to inherit his father's business.

It's easy to call yourself a "senior jeweler". Just write an advertisement. To impress senior jewelers and truly become "senior jewelers", we must first own or handle world-famous gems and prove our capital and technical strength to the industry. Secondly, you must have a distinctive exclusive cutting style and stand out from the crowd.

In the 1920s, Bulgari began to be active in the field of top jewelry auction. After several big deals, Constantino and George Bulgari were considered as the most powerful experts in the industry at that time: they had profound academic knowledge, respected history, superb skills and modern aesthetic vision. No matter whether the jewelry is decorated more luxuriously or simply, they perfectly retain the prototype of the gem.

With more and more entrepreneurs, stars, aristocrats and rich people buying Bulgari's priceless giant diamond ornaments, such as Count Vittorio Cini's 24.44-carat pink purple diamond, the international popularity of Bulgari brand has gradually increased. Today, Bulgari is an internationally renowned jewelry brand.