INSPIRED BY NATURE PERFECTED BY MAN

Design is the answer to an equation that involves finding a balance between aesthetics and function; an equation that’s full of other variables such as cultural and popular trends, social and artistic movements, and much more. Which is why enduring designs are not frequently developed or universally appreciated. But when they come along, they have the ability to impress and earn admiration across ages, genders and other categories that differentiate each of us individually.

While watchmaking has been around for over four centuries, it’s only been in the last century that design not merely for function, but also for form and style, has made its mark on the industry. After all, right up till the 1950s, the super majority of watches made were round and gold with classic dials. But as the era of excess in the ’50s gave way to the mods of the Swinging Sixties, a bolder and more progressive attitude towards wrist accessories on men and women became a defining presence. It was also around this period that a particular jewellery line developed by Bvlgari, inspired by a traditional Roman jewelry style of twisting twine into an elegant form of decorative design, took off in tremendous fashion. This was the Serpenti collection made famous by Elizabeth Taylor, a range of bejewelled bracelets and watches that coiled around the arm, hence its name.

At the heart of the Serpenti collection was Bvlgari’s ability to create a flexible metallic band around a long strip of copper or wood that required no soldering, and therefore appeared seamless. In addition to its inventiveness, it reflected skill in the shaping of precious materials into accessories that emulated one of nature’s most