AGE OF DISCRETION
There’s something poetically very satisfying about ‘Discreet Luxury’ being the modern-day ethos of a luxury watchmaking powerhouse which began life as a small jewellery emporium on Rome’s Via Sistina, opened in 1884 by a Greek immigrant by the name of Sotirios Voulgaris just a couple of miles east of the lavish opulence of The Vatican.
For the man who came up with the credo, Bvlgari Group’s CEO since 2013 Jean-Christophe Babin, the phrase is a crucial means of differentiating the Italian house’s men’s watches from the rest of a remarkable output that these days includes wares as diverse as fragrances, accessories and leather goods as well as its core offering, jewellery. “Bvlgari is primarily a contemporary Roman high jeweller offering unrivalled ladies’ pieces characterised by strong pedigree and contrasts, architectural shapes and unexpected combinations of cuts and colours,” says French-born Babin, a former president and CEO of TAG Heuer and a man who has played a vast role in Bvlgari’s ongoing global expansion.
“For men, elegance has the same benefits as it does for women, but it has to be more understated. It has to capitalise on the contemporary dimension but express it through slimness. This is why our Octo Finissimo, although utterly complex, has a minute repeater rather than a Tourbillon or a Chronograph. It is utterly minimalist and simple: whilst being geometrically inspired by Rome, and often resembling jewellery, it is deliberately more discreet as sophisticated men are generally more understated than women.”
That said, Babin is quick to point out that, luxury being a holistic endeavour, the house’s modus operandi as a jewellery maker – one so illustrious that Richard Burton once quipped “I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bvlgari” – is inextricably linked to its watchmaking endeavours. “The two activities, even if apparently different, are very close in terms of know-how,” he says.
