Geneva-Based Giorgio B’s “Palma” Collection Glows With Timeless Chic

Giorgio Bulgari is the creative force behind the new , which gleams and glows with his inaugural collection, “Palma.” Embodying Giorgio Bulgari’s dynamic love of Nature, chic adornment, fine art, industrial design and material culture, Palma is also significant for its multiplicity. This is because until now, the Geneva-based designer only created bespoke jewels. I met with him during his recent gallery exhibition of his collections plus one-of-a-kind Palma rings at Studio Naegeli in Gstaad, Switzerland. What’s more, I had the privilege of trying on and photographing multiple Palma jewels, plus Giorgio Bulgari’s super-sleek, sexy “Goccia” pieces in enamel, coral, turquoise and 18-karat gold.

“With the Palma collection,” Giorgio explained, “I am exploring in precious metals and diamonds the shape, textures, negative space, light and grace of an exotic palm I spotted in a 19^th century volume, The Book of Palms. The palm that inspired me was drawn from life in the Palm House in Kew Gardens, London.” (Compiled by the German botanist Carl Friedrich Phillip von Martius, The Book of Palms is available in a Taschen edition.)

The precise lines and pointed ends of the Palma earrings are emphasized by an ever-shifting play of light created by their artfully textured and polished gold. This makes these adornments continually intriguing. When asked to describe his style, Giorgio Bulgari hesitated before answering. “My jewels reflect my love of Nature, streamline moderne, ergonomics, simplicity and elegance. Oh, and of course, gemstones and precious metals.”

Palma’s 18-karat gold and diamond earring, bracelet, necklace and ring designs are quietly seductive in their shapes, voluptuous in volume, and artfully textured with fine finishes and brilliant polishing. In all its botanical, minimalist majesty, the Palma collection is currently on offer at , the Louisa Guinness gallery and in Houston and Dallas, Texas.

It’s worth noting that Palma earrings and a Palma ring were worn by Sharon Stone at Vanity Fair’s Oscar party following the 2023 Academy Awards. While many high luxury jewelers offer A-listers six figure sums to wear their creations to the Oscars, Giorgio B found its way to Sharon Stone via the Giorgio B publicist, Geneva-based Jasmine Vidal. As Giorgio Bulgari explained, “Seeing my jewels worn by Sharon Stone was a thrill for many reasons. But I also want to say that comfort is just as essential to my designs as are beautiful design and materials. The Palma earrings, despite their large surface and volume,” he explained, “are surprisingly light and comfortable to wear.” Having tried them on in Gstaad, this writer can vouch for how surprisingly comfortable the jewels are in relation to their scale and visual power.

A lifelong admirer of streamline moderne design as expressed through everything from trains to jewelry to cars, Giorgio Bulgari mused about the Palma collection’s debt to this great era of design. “Streamlined design tends to be ergonomic. The elliptical fronds of the Palma ring are both beautiful for how they are graduated but also comfortable, tapering along the shank.” The Palma jewels are especially intriguing to wear and look at as their negative spaces offer subtle glimpses of the human body, adorning it with a sleek, smart mystique.

The one-of-a-kind Palma rings shown in Gstaad included a radiant, investment quality yellow sapphire set in bronze. This covetable cocktail ring was joined by a psychedelically pink rubellite tourmaline set in 18-karat rose gold, plus an emerald Palma and a blue sapphire Palma ring. Having chosen the universally admired palm motif for his first collection, Giorgio Bulgari proves himself to be a pragmatic haute luxe (high luxury) jeweler. Due to their design caliber, gemstone quality and production values, the term “high luxury” seems a more accurate description of Giorgio B jewels than “fine jewelry”, which is too common a term to describe his creations. I say pragmatic because this designer understands acutely how and why today’s jewelry lovers think, live, dress, travel and work internationally. These jewels are cosmopolitan and cultured in their appeal, design sensibility, influences, silhouettes and visual effects.

Another reason why I say pragmatic and international is that in his Palma collection, Girogio Bulgari is tapping into a universally powerful motif. Having long served blessed, nutritive and sheltering functions in human culture, the palm tree now and forever occupies a special place in humanity’s collective unconscious. In the ancient Near East, the palm shaded humans and often symbolized the Tree of Life in their art, as the date palm yielded a staple fruit. For this and other reasons, palm trees were held sacred in Mesopotamian religions. In ancient Egypt, the palm stood for immortality, while Israelites used palm branches to celebrate during festivities. Ancient Greeks awarded palm branches to victorious athletes, and in Rome, gladiators received palm branches upon winning matches.

As Giorgio Bulgari has spent many a winter in Gstaad since childhood, his exhibition there attracted many longtime friends and visitors. On the day I interviewed him, two different clients came in to view one-of-a-kind jewels. “Let’s just say that the exhibit was a success,” Bulgari said in his characteristically understated way. In light of the artistry and richesse of his family legacy, Giorgio Bulgari is rather modest in his affect, for he is a great grandson of the historically important Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, who opened his first store in Rome in 1884. Stocked with precious silver pieces imbued with Byzantine and Islamic influences as well as then-contemporary motifs, this store spawned another boutique, situated on the fashionable via Condotti. Eventually the brand expanded to include luxury stores all over the world, along with ultra-luxury hotels and a perfume range. (LVMH bought Bulgari in 2011.) I noted with interest that the only jewels Giorgio Bulgari was wearing were friendship bracelets made by his son and daughter.

Born in New York, reared in Rome, the designer graduated from Boston University and served a brief but successful stint in finance before working for his father, Gianni. As Giorgio recalled, Gianni “…was sketching and designing everything from jewels to luggage to dashboards during my childhood.” Giorgio noted while the familial jewelry heritage, coupled with his father’s creativity, all exerted formative effects on his imagination, understanding of materials and aesthetics, so did the jewels that his mother wore, plus the Futurist art and modernist furniture gracing the family home.

After working with his father, Giorgio then worked with his aunt, the late Marina Bulgari, founder of the avant-garde Marina B brand. Worn by such paragons of chic as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Marina B gained worldwide acclaim for its ingenious ergonomic; ultra-luxe designs. “My aunt was a wonderful designer, an engineer by training and an award-winning sailboat racer, Giorgio Bulgari recalled. “What a perfectionist. I learned so much from her.” (He was Creative Director at Marina B.)

While Giorgio Bulgari’s too modest to say so, his Palma jewels are ultra-distinctive because his design vocabulary is so original, highly refined and derivative of no one. When he noted in passing that one of his favorite designers happens to be Suzanne Belperron, who famously declared, “My style is my signature,” this made perfect sense. While Belperron’s jewels never resemble those of any other jeweler, her credo also explained why she never signed her jewels. While Giorgio B jewels are showing at the PAD Paris exhibition April 3 – 7, potential Giorgio B collectors may be pleased to know that unlike Belperron’s jewels, Giorgio B pieces are all signed.