hat defines an icon? Tracing back to the Ancient Greek eikṓn - a likeness, a portrait, a symbolic representation – an icon today is an expression of ideology, of creativity, of meaning. Championing the heritage of the Roman High Jeweler, Creative Director of Leather Goods and Accessories Mary Katrantzou introduces the Bvlgari Icons Minaudière collection - celebrating the unique identity of Bvlgari through its distinct aesthetic vocabulary, and rich cultural symbolism.
Inspired by over 140 years of Bvlgari’s jewelry-making mastery, each Bvlgari Icons Minaudière is an objet d’art where craftsmanship, materials and meaning converge to delineate a dynamic space, precious pieces between jewelry and accessory.
Reimagining Bvlgari’s five timeless symbols, Monete, Serpenti, Tubogas, Divas’ Dream and Bvlgari Bvlgari, the collection champions the Maison’s singular creative language through precious and exquisite metal minaudières that embody both heritage and innovation.
The dedicated campaign, photographed by Ethan James Green with campaign concept and creative direction by Ferdinando Verderi, stars five extraordinary women – author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, model Linda Evangelista, actor Kim Ji-won, actor and model Isabella Rossellini, and architect Sumayya Vally.
Each embodies one of the Bvlgari Icons minaudières, and the values it represents: strength, transformation, wisdom, allure and identity. And each minaudière is a true jewel, inherently imprinted with Bvlgari’s depth of narrative and emotion.
“This collection celebrates the living heritage of Bvlgari’s Icons, symbols that have transcended design to become part of our cultural language. Each minaudière was conceived not simply to hold objects, but to hold meaning, blending high craftsmanship with cultural storytelling. Carrying culture in your bag is both a metaphor and a reality, a way of cherishing the wisdom of women. We are honored to have five extraordinary women lend their voice to our Icons and, through their lived experience, give new dimension to their symbolism, transforming heritage into a living dialogue. That is the culture that we create, we carry, and share.” - Mary Katrantzou, Bvlgari Creative Director of Leather Goods and Accessories
Created in limited edition, each piece draws from Bvlgari’s unparalleled jewelry-making savoir-faire.
Comprising Bvlgari’s first-ever dedicated evening collection, a piece of jewelry transforms into a functional accessory, while an accessory feels like a precious jewel in your hands. Inspired by diminutive minaudières held in the Bvlgari archive and respecting their original proportions, every design is proposed in two sizes – the minaudière, and a miniature vanity - exploring a new territory between these two disciplines of luxury.
Every Bvlgari Icons Minaudière is created through a constant dialogue, between the present and historic pieces drawn from Bvlgari’s deep heritage.
Monete is honored with a minaudière featuring recreation of an ancient Roman coin at new scale, framed by precious enamel; Tubogas reiterates nature with a snaking body of pure metal wrapping around a precious ‘egg’ of lizard; an intricate jewel inlay reflects the origin of Divas’ Dream in the mosaics of the Baths of Caracalla; the modernity of Bvlgari Bvlgari becomes a cylindrical minaudière with hand-intarsia of Mother of Pearl; while the head of Bvlgari’s iconic Serpenti jewels and watches is reimagined as a stand-alone piece.
Methodologies of creation native to High Jewelry are translated to accessories – lost wax techniques precisely recreate sculptural forms, combined with precious hand-enamel, hand-applications and pavé settings, and inlays of colored stones including amethyst, tiger’s eye, mother of pearl and malachite. Further underscoring their origins, each of these precious pieces is suspended from a delicate chain and every opening set with a cabochon stone, transforming the functional into the sublime.
Deep, meaningful, significant and unique, the Bvlgari Icons Minaudière collection is a new chapter for the Accessories story of the Roman High Jeweler, and a new realm for luxury, where precious objects become vessels for knowledge, and women are celebrated as custodians of culture.
The deliberate design decision behind the size of the Bvlgari Icons minaudières is a provocative proposition by Mary Katrantzou that sparks discussion and ignites debate. Here, an accessory can be both a symbol of wisdom, an ideological emblem of meaning, yet also a physical means of ‘Carrying Culture’.
The début campaign presents five-specially crafted miniature books designed to fit the silhouette of each Bvlgari Icons minaudière. Each of these micro- volumes are authored by five extraordinary Bvlgari women, reflecting their lived experience: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Linda Evangelista,Kim Ji-won, Isabella Rossellini, and Sumayya Vally.
Each personifies one of the House’s Icons - Bvlgari Bvlgari, Serpenti, Divas’ Dream, Monete, Tubogas - while culture is viewed through the lens of their stories.
It is a statement, of Bvlgari embracing these icons’ own personal knowledge as an ultimate form of culture. We learn from them.
These women are icons connected by a true pursuit of their individual craft - and this project is a representation of the belief that Bvlgari is, at its core, a plurality, a House built on a celebration of syncretism, so dear to its founder. In turn, their books become vessels of wisdom shaped to be transported inside each of their respective minaudières - culture we can carry.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes ‘Notes on Creating Culture’, Linda Evangelista ‘Notes on Honoring Tradition’, Kim Ji-won ‘Notes on Cultivating Inner Calm’, Isabella Rossellini ‘Notes on Listening to Nature’, Sumayya Vally ‘Notes on Finding Home’. These are unique new works, published exclusively by Bvlgari for this limited-edition collection.
With the Bvlgari Icons Minaudière Collection, the Roman High Jeweler expands its universe, fusing craftsmanship and storytelling, design and philosophy. At its heart, it valorizes women as conveyors of wisdom, who have helped shape our culture, and continue to carry it to new generations.
