Baselworld 2015: a new take on Serpenti Jewellery Watches

New Serpenti masterpieces join the family to symbolise the eternal renewal of all things – and of jewellery watches, too.

Bulgari design strikes like a snake, with a stunning expansion of the iconic Serpenti collection, unveiled at Baselworld this year. With inexhaustible creativity, Bulgari’s Serpenti timepieces are reinterpreted with a head-over-tail design, a brilliant variation of the iconic original one.

This latest Serpenti joins the family as a masterpiece of craftsmanship, lithely coiling your wrist in the most precious materials, and as a true seductive, statement piece.

Bulgari Serpenti Jewellery Watch in White Gold with Diamond-set pavé dial. 26mm white-gold curved case set with 6 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.46 ct). Snow-set pavé dial set with 144 diamonds (0.29 ct). I-row white gold bracelet set with 168 brilliant-cut diamonds (12.43 cts). Swiss quartz movement personalised for Bulgari, Calibre B033.

The serpent has become the hallmark signature of Bulgari, its Serpenti an emblem now recognised around the world.

Paying tribute to its rich Roman past, Bulgari has reinterpreted this emblem since the 1940s, in a distinctive collection of snake-watch-bracelets, now iconic to Bulgari heritage and reuniting all the Maison’s hallmarks: a love for colour, juxtaposition of materials, supple wearability, and avant-garde artisanal techniques.

SERPENTI_CRAFT_02 — As a sinewy symbol dating back to ancient mythology, the snake represents wisdom, strength, and re-birth, encircling 2700 years of ancient history and today reborn in Bulgari.

The new Serpenti Jewellery Watch is not only presented in a variety of precious materials, but it also owns that head-over-tail shape which is distictive of that High Jewellery Collection bearing the same name.

A great jewel born out of the Italian Maison’s creative intuition merging with the meticoulous savoir-faire of Bulgari’s Swiss watchmakers. With care, the snakes’ brilliant “scales” are assembled, crafted, carved one by one, in red lacquer or diamond pavé, with each stone also cut and set by hand – a expert execution that echoes the techniques of vintage Serpenti watch creations.

102329_001_ful — Bulgari Serpenti Jewellery Watch in Pink Gold with Diamond-set and Pink Mother of Pearl Dial. 26mm pink gold curved case set with 6 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.46 ct). Pink mother of pearl dial set with 33 brilliant-cut diamond indexes (0.054 ct). I-row pink gold bracelet set with 168 brilliant-cut diamonds (12.43 cts). Swiss quartz movement personalised for Bulgari, Calibre B033.

Innovation goes also in Serpenti’s bracelet structure, crafted for the first time without the classic internal spring, which gives it a sinuosity and a wearability for the everyday wear. With grace, the closing mechanism of the bracelet is secured with a double pressure-button, facilitating ultimate comfort with adjustable bracelet links.

And as a special finish to denote the bright colours of the pink-gold and red-lacquer Serpenti timepieces, a semi-transparent lacquer is hand-applied and dried, multiple times, crystallising as it dries. The metals of the watches feature a hand-made striped pattern, which gleamingly enhances the brilliance of the special lacquer. It takes two full days to prepare all the layers of lacquer for one bracelet’s links; then they are smoothed and polished by hand.

SERPENTI_CRAFT_04 — The coil and curved case of every Serpenti timepiece feature an openwork pattern along the sides and back, permitting light to penetrate the core and accentuate the brilliance of the pavé stones.

An icon reborn, just as the snake, the new Bulgari Serpenti Jewellery Watches bring Bulgari’s heritage, bold creativity and excellent savoir-faire to a new and higher dimension. CC

Post by Claudia Carletti, Jewellery Through Time. Material courtesy of Bulgari Press Office.