Chapter Two – Bvlgari Jewellery’s Lucia Silvestri discusses working with Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan to create Chapter Two of the Jannah collection

Chapter Two

Bvlgari Jewellery’s Creative Director Lucia Silvestri discusses working with Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan to create Chapter Two of the Jannah collection, which is a touching tribute to the UAE and the late Sheikh Zayed, Father of the Nation

IMAGES: SUPPLIED Congratulations on the launch of Chapter Two of the Jannah collection designed with Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. How do you think this collection will resonate with the women of this region? I think that is something that women here can wear very easily and they’ll be able to play with this kind of collection for any occasion. It’s easy to wear for every day, morning time, evening time and especially if you play with different layers [of the pieces] you can wear it any time. The colour palette is also quite neutral, not using too many colours, using mainly mother pearls – it’s very easy, very feminine and very elegant. At its core, the collection portrays love and peace, two key values from Sheikha Fatima’s grandfather, Sheikh Zayed. Going back to the start of your journey with Bvlgari. You began your career with them at the age of 18. What's it been like to see Bvlgari grow through the years since you've been there? When I started with the company it was truly a family brand, they only had five stores. Can you imagine? Five stores, three brothers [Gianni, Nicola and Paolo Bulgari]. They are my mentors, my teachers and I learned everything from them. I had the opportunity to follow them on their trips around the world where I was able to see the best gems across the globe from the very beginning of my career. I then began to channel my creativity in this job and from following my mentors. I remember one of my key lessons from them was don’t buy a stone if you don’t know how to use it. So, I started to think in a creative way about being selective with gems and knowing how exactly I would use them. My journey with the brand has been very special. How did the Bulgari brothers instil the creative values that you have held onto through your career? I hope that I can bring with me the legacy that they shared with me. My goal is to share the legacy with my teams and to be Bvlgari forever. So, even in a new collection, whether it has crazy creativity or something more classic, you can see the legacy of Bvlgari. What are the key roles you have had with Bvlgari throughout the years? I started with Bvlgari at the grassroots of the business, selecting small stones, small gems. Then when we began to grow and to have more and more stores I could start to see difficulties in finding the best quality gems. When it was five stores, it was easy, but when we started to have 30, 40, 50 stores, it became more difficult. It was a big challenge when I had to start buying more stones than in the beginning, but of the same quality. This involved more travel to be able to source more stones and gems. This eventually led to a bigger team being created and I created a team of buyers that could help me during these trips. In 2013, I became creative director [for Bvlgari Jewellery] this was a magical moment for me. It was a peak moment in my career, for me, because I was behind the high jewellery and the jewellery from the beginning, but it wasn’t in an official capacity, so that was an incredible milestone for me. You’ve been with the brand for a long time and it’s got a very rich history. What do you think Bvlgari really represents to you at its core? Tradition and values. Values of quality – in terms of gems, craftsmanship and creativity. This has been instilled in my mind every day from day one from Mr Bulgari. I’m still in touch with him even now and he always says don’t forget the quality. I hope to bring quality and this kind of value with me always.

Now to the Jannah collection which you first launched at the beginning of 2020. What was it like working with Her Highness Sheikha Fatima on this collection? Working with Her Highness was amazing because we felt immediately a great connection. She started to talk about her family, her traditions, culture, her grandfather [the late Sheikh Zayed, Father of the Nation] and the mosque that the grandfather created. So the first thing that I did, I went to the mosque, and I saw how beautiful it was. It was very clean, white, marble, simple with incredible geometry. In fact, it reminded me of the geometrical nature of our jewellery. So then we started to think about something feminine, but not too romantic, but contemporary [for the collection]. We mixed the idea of the flower [for the Jannah collection] with geometry and I could find that in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. With Her Highness, we worked together step-bystep, she was very was involved in the whole process. It was a great opportunity. It was an honour to work with Sheikha Fatima and it was incredible to enter this region with a Bvlgari touch. It was a challenge, but a beautiful challenge. We’re celebrating 50 years of the UAE – what does this region represent to you? We share a lot of core values together [Italy and the UAE] with our culture and we have so many clients from this region right from the start. I remember when Mr Bulgari told me stories about his trips here many years ago. We’ve had a great relationship with this region from the beginning and we look forward to continuing it.