Introducing Bulgari Channels Old Hollywood Glamor With Its New High Jewelry Serpentis

It's haute joaillerie season! Let me explain: Every year, after the haute couture shows in Paris, all the major brands show VICs (very important clients) as well as a few LMPs (lucky members of the press) their latest high jewelry collections. It's like a secret little society composed of the most glamorous patrons. Not to be crude, but the pieces are designed for those who can afford them. And where there is an abundance of wealth there are far fewer creative boundaries imposed. It's not so dissimilar to haute horlogerie; it's a chance for the creatives within these brands to experiment with form, show off the best of their human craftsmanship and run free with their unbridled design ambitions, because if not now then when?!

Last week Bulgari released two new Serpenti designs under their "Aeterna" high jewelry collection: the Serpenti Misteriosi Dragone and Serpenti Misteriosi Chimera. No Serpenti history lesson from me today; for background you'll have to go back and check my extensive musings about all things Serpenti. Instead, let this article be an ode to Elizabeth Taylor and bejeweled snakes and other glamorous women who wore these snakes, like Diana Vreeland and Gina Lollobrigida.

The Misteriosi Dragone is a physical manifestation of Bulgari's tie with Hollywood and its pure concentration of glamor in the early to mid 20th century. Ms. Taylor wore a Serpenti on the set of Cleopatra in Rome's Cinecittà Studios in 1962, and it's that very vintage Serpenti that inspired the design of this release. Not quite an exact replica, the new interpretation of the watch is a generous nod to the original. Like the heritage piece from the '60s, the snake's body is made with a tubolari bracelet, and its head is set with a cluster of baguette-cut diamonds. It took over 960 hours to make this watch, and it is set with 32 carats of hand selected gems. Like the Heritage Serpenti, the watch can be worn on both wrists as the dial can be reversed by turning the removable movement 180 degrees.

According to Bulgari, the word "chimera" refers to an unattainable dream and is the synonym for "utopian." The Chimera creature initially described by Homer in the Iliad was a snake-tailed, lion-headed beast that was able to breathe fire. In my warped Serpenti dream world, the bestial duality bestows this watch with a duality of meaning for its future (very glamorous) owner – part lucky talisman (the snake), part scary diamond-laden weapon (the lion). It's an inanimate object, but I can only imagine that the woman who can carry off a watch like this is not to be messed with.

Both of the Serpentis (and all other high jewelry watches made by the brand) come equipped with the Piccolissimo, an in-house, manual winding mechanical movement that is miniature sized: 12.30mm in diameter and 2.50mm thick to be exact. Rejoice for miniature movements!

Okay, so here I am once more waxing lyrical about the Serpenti. But I'm not exaggerating when I say that there's really no other watch that elicits such a visceral reaction of pleasure from me every damn time I put one on or look at a picture of one or admire a lucky lady on the streets of the Upper East Side adorned in one. I have tried to sum up my Serpenti fever into words on multiple occasions. My devout loyalty to this watch and its many forms is mostly instinctual. Diana Vreeland famously said style was a very natural thing: "It's not at all invented or for sale in a store. It's not like canned soup. You can have any kind of soup in the world, but you can't buy style – because it is personality, interest, education, and a sense of pleasure in society." I am sticking to her word because she is the patron saint of style. And she wore a Serpenti. 

An important note to remind all of those at the helm of the big brands: Not everything has to be dripping in diamonds to be a successful design for women. I am faithful to the Serpenti Tubogas in its most simple plain gold or stainless steel form. And what makes Serpenti so effective is its unabashed confidence at being a piece of jewelry with a watch. The high jewelry Serpentis sit at the very top of the Bulgari food chain and can serve to excite and inspire. It's easier to think of them as museum-worthy objects. Something you would see at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 100 years time. Alternatively I like to spin up a one-day-I-will-be-a-rich-Italian-lady fantasy in my head where I am wearing colorful silk caftans in the summer and archival Prada all year round. My house is decorated with cream-colored satin curtains and Lalique crystal bowls and Murano light fixtures and I have a vault brimming full of Serpenti.

Brand: Bulgari
Model: Serpenti Misteriosi Dragone; Serpenti Misteriosi Chimera
Reference Number: 104044; 104078

Case Material: 18k white and yellow gold; white gold
Dial Color: Full pavé diamonds
Water Resistance: 30 meters
Strap/Bracelet: 18k white and yellow gold tubolari bracelet set with diamonds with snake head; 18k white gold with diamonds and emeralds in the shape of a snake and lion head

Caliber: BVL 100 Piccolissimo
Functions: Hours, minutes
Diameter: 2.30 mm
Thickness: 2.50 mm
Power Reserve: 30 hours
Winding: manual
Frequency: 21,600 VpH
Jewels: 21

Price: Upon request
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