Jewellery enduring love affair with animals has produced many iconic creations, among which the most famous and well-loved is arguably Bulgari's Serpenti. So firmly tied is the serpent to the Italian jeweller's identity that one can't help but instantly recall its name at the sight of snake-inspired creations.
This year marks Serpenti's 75th anniversary, an occasion that once again shines a spotlight on the seductive symbol that has ceaselessly charmed women of all ages over the decades. What makes the snake - fearsome, powerful and yet mysterious and alluring - such a fitting source of inspiration in jewellery design? Let's look at how Bulgari popularised the reptile and made it the stuff of legends.
SYMBOL OF POWER
Bulgari isn't the first to use the snake as a motif in jewellery, even if it may have become the most well-known for doing so. Seen on jewellery dating back to ancient times, the creature has been featured for its many symbolic meanings in mythology. The serpent represented different things to different cultures, naturally - to the Greeks, it was symbolic of royalty, rebirth and renewal, while the Romans associated it with protection and healing. Other cultures might have attached other associations to the snake, which sometimes fringed on the dark side, but all of them acknowledged one thing - its divine power, whether it inspired hope or fear.
The serpent first arrived at Bulgari in 1948, interpreted into jewellery watches that were worn wrapped around the wrist a design style that was destined to extend to endless variations at the Roman house for the indefinite future. These early Serpenti timepieces were crafted with the brand's signature Tubogas technique, which employs the wrapping of metal to form a supple tube or pipe that is strong yet flexible, such that it moulds seamlessly to the wrist.
STYLISTIC TRANSFORMATION
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