Farewell to Marina Bulgari, the lady of jewels, who died at the age of 93 in Rome. The funeral was celebrated in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Born in Rome in 1930, Marina Bulgari was the daughter of Costantino Bulgari and nephew of the Greek jeweler Sotirios Bulgari, founder of the famous jewelery house on Via Condotti in Rome. Like her father, Marina also madly loved jewelry and after being part of the family business, in 1976 she decided to launch her ambitious project, that is, a new jewelry brand named after her, Marina B .
Marina Bulgari, the queen of jewels: who she was
He opened his first showroom in Geneva in 1978. His stylistic signature was highly original, playing on geometry and colour. This quickly allowed it to establish itself on an international scale, thanks also to the opening of a series of shops in New York, Milan, Jeddah, Riyadh and London. In 1987 Marina Bulgari introduced the cardan joint to link spheres of colored stones together. In 1996 Sheikh Ahmed Fitaihi, owner of a chain of luxury stores in Saudi Arabia, purchased the brand. The collections, which Marina Bulgari continued to design, even after the change of ownership, were enriched with new creative ideas. For example, particular cuts were developed such as the Marina B Cut, with which heart-shaped triangular stones were obtained.
The predilection for architectural effects and the curiosity for jewelery construction techniques, pushed to always apply new mechanisms, using with great inventiveness hinges and springs that allow the stones or elements of the jewel to move or be replaced, always establishing new codes of modularity or interchangeability. In 1998 the Spring series was born, made up of a succession of springs. The women's watch lines date back to the end of the 90s. In the new millennium, Marina B has created models that are easier to wear, returning to themes already touched on in the past, for example, animalier, and inaugurating new series, such as the one dedicated to the Chinese horoscope.
Marina Bulgari, between fashion and sport
In 2017, the majority share of Marina B was acquired by Guy Bedarida, who became its new creative director, without abandoning the aesthetics of the brand. After the death of her husband, a neurosurgeon who died in a car accident, Marina Bulgari has always maintained the utmost confidentiality about her private life. Bulgari was also a great sportswoman: she was very passionate about sailing and in 1973 she was world champion in the “One tonner” category together with her Olympic friend Admiral Agostino Straulino. Jewels, however, remained one of her greatest loves: "For me they are like children", she said, the ones she never had.
Marina Bulgari, the family
Marina Bulgari leaves behind her brother Alexis Bulgari and her nieces Laura Colnaghi Calissoni and Francesca Feroldi Calissoni. “My aunt was a visionary, an extraordinary woman. She taught me courage and determination. She was an exceptional designer who brought many innovations to the jewelry sector,” one of her nieces remembers her, Laura Calissoni Colnaghi.
