TAORMINA, Italy — “We want to surprise and make clients fall in love with Bulgari again and again,” said Laura Burdese, deputy chief executive officer of the jewelry brand.

So how could Bulgari top the Aeterna high jewelry collection presented last year in Rome that paid tribute to the jeweler’s 140th anniversary? By traveling to Taormina, the hilltop town dubbed the Pearl of the Ionian Sea, on the east coast of Sicily, the Etna volcano in the background.

“We wanted the location to be ‘wow,’” said Lucia Silvestri, the brand’s jewelry creative director, speaking on Monday from the San Domenico Palace, the former Dominican monastery that is now a Four Seasons Hotel, which was the setting for the second season of “The White Lotus.”

Silvestri spoke about the collection ahead of Bulgari’s gala dinner at the Hotel Timeo and fashion show at Taormina’s ancient Greek theater.

“The theater is so close to our roots,” said Silvestri, referring to founder Sotirio Bulgari, who was a Greek silversmith.

Called Polychroma, the new high jewelry collection also takes its name from the Greek language — poly meaning multitude and chromia meaning colors — a key element throughout Bulgari’s history — plus the homage to Roma, the brand’s birthplace.

“Polychroma is an ode to the infinite possibilities to play with shapes and colors. The collection comprises a total of 56 gemstones, the first time with such an expansive color palette,” said Silvestri, who herself is passionate about color — she was wearing a dandelion yellow pantsuit over a soft lilac blouse, and a brooch shaped as a pine cone revisited from an archival design from the 1960s and “a symbol of good luck.”

Looking down at the garden of the luxury hotel, abloom with bougainvillea, jacaranda, and jasmine, citrus and palm trees, the location was a perfect stage for the Polychroma presentation. It featured 600 pieces, including 250 creations of both high jewelry and high jewelry watches, with 60 millionaire designs, the highest number ever for Bulgari.

Around 200 clients were due to visit presentations of the collection throughout the week, said Burdese, who explained that developing the themes for the high jewelry presentations can take up to three years.

Burdese took on the newly created role of deputy CEO last September. She was promoted from vice president of marketing and communication at the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned jeweler, a position she had held since January 2022. Burdese oversees the jewelry, watches, perfumes and leather goods business while keeping her previous responsibilities. She reports to CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, who in March was also named CEO of LVMH Watches, which comprises the Hublot, Zenith and Tag Heuer brands.

Asked to comment on current market conditions, Burdese admitted “we are navigating uncertain waters, with so many changes taking place, and yes, some clients may be in a wait-and-see mode. But we have a great legacy and our jewels are like artistic creations and they are seen as investments, they hold value over time, so for us this period is less difficult. Therefore, I am cautiously optimistic.”

To be sure, Bulgari has not slowed its investments; for example, it has expanded its production plant in Valenza, unveiled last month, expecting to double its production capacity by 2029, and it opened a major flagship in Milan’s Via Montenapoleone in March.  After renovating its Dubai Mall and Champs-Elysées stores, and recently opening units in San Francisco and Costa Mesa, Bulgari will unveil new boutiques at Tokyo Takashimaya in September and on Rodeo Drive in October.  

A new Bulgari Hotel will open in the Maldives while the project in Los Angeles was shelved as the city’s planning department halted its development.

Despite a general slowdown there, China remains Bulgari’s main market, said Burdese, adding that the other regions are all “well-balanced.”

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Anne Hathaway, longtime Bulgari house ambassadors, debuted pieces from Bulgari’s Polychroma collection at the Met Gala earlier this month, as reported, and the former attended the unveiling on Monday, flanked by Liu Yifei, Lisa and Viola Davis.

Silvestri underscored the “extraordinary combinations of colors, the exceptional quality and highest level of craftsmanship” of the Polychroma collection. It reaches its pinnacle in the Gallery of Wonders, with five one-of-a kind creations “crafted from the rarest and most unique gems, which are gifts of nature and possess rare and exceptional features.”

The Bulgari Cosmic Vault revealed a 123.35-carat Sri Lankan sugarloaf sapphire in a deep and intense royal blue tone with a velvet-like texture, 200 alternating elements showing 331 buff-top sapphires and 13 diamond drops.

Jericho’s Tree of Life mosaic from Hisham’s Palace, built in the 8th century A.D., inspired the Celestial Mosaic necklace with a central 131.21-carat spinel from Tajikistan, the world’s fourth-largest spinel “and the first in terms of quality,” said Silvestri, and a kaleidoscope of hues, from the deep turquoise of a very rare tourmaline to emeralds, onyx and diamonds.

“It reveals influences from Mughal art and combines almost 200 elements connected by flexible joints for a perfect fit,” said Silvestri, who stays away from any stiffness and always aims for sinuous designs that adapt to the neck of the wearer.

One of the collection’s emblems, the exquisite Polychromatic Bloom, stood out with three gems — a central 106.36-carat rubellite, a 55.52-carat peridot and a 55.11-carat tanzanite, surrounded by blossoming petals, for a total of 500 different elements.

Bulgari reinterpreted the Trombino ring, first designed in 1928 by Leonilde Bulgari for her mother, with the Essence of Yellow, a platinum ring with a 45-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond, which is extremely rare, appearing only once every four or five years, said Silvestri, and representing one in every eight million stones, here with an emerald Asscher-cut, featuring 42 diamonds and pavé sets.

The bold and stunning Magnus Emerald necklace had a 241.06-carat emerald from the Colombian mines, the biggest ever used by Bulgari.

Among the high jewelry watches, the Nuvole Preziose [precious clouds] in an octagonal shape echoes the ceiling of the Basilica Maxentius in Rome and features a 6.88-carat certified cushion-cut yellow sapphire at the center of the dial, with detachable clouds that can be worn as earrings. Spikes are crafted to represent the sun rays of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s altarpiece at the Santa Maria Della Vittoria church in the Italian capital.

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome.