Bulgari Icons Minaudière Collection | A Modern Vision of Luxury

Bulgari Icons Minaudière Collection

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Luxury today is about precision, not volume. The Bvlgari Icons Minaudière Collection distills the House’s legacy into sculptural evening pieces that feel intimate by design—objects shaped by history, craftsmanship, and modern restraint. Designed by Mary Katrantzou, Creative Director of Leather Goods and Accessories, the collection reinterprets Bvlgari’s most recognizable symbols as precious-metal minaudières that exist somewhere between high jewelry and accessories. 

Drawing from more than 140 years of Roman jewelry-making mastery, each piece is crafted using techniques traditionally reserved for fine jewelry. Lost-wax casting defines the sculptural form, while hand-applied enamel, pavé settings, and gemstone inlays such as malachite, amethyst, and tiger’s eye add depth and dimension. Offered in two sizes, the classic minaudière and a miniature vanity, the designs blur the line between adornment and function with ease.

Deliberately scaled to hold only the essentials, the minaudières reject excess. Too small for a phone by design, they place emphasis on intention over utility. What remains is presence, ritual, and the quiet confidence of carrying something chosen.

At the heart of the collection are five Bvlgari icons, each expressing a different facet of the House’s visual language. Together, they form a cohesive vocabulary that is bold, architectural, and unmistakably Roman.

Serpenti, long a symbol of transformation and power, appears as a sculptural serpent head rendered in precious metal and hand-applied enamel. Hypnotic and protective.

Monete draws inspiration from ancient Roman coins once worn as talismans. Reimagined as a minaudière framed in enamel and gold, it bridges antiquity and modernity with quiet authority.

Tubogas celebrates fluidity and form. Its coiled metal construction wraps structure around softness, showcasing Bulgari’s mastery of movement and balance.

Divas’ Dream, inspired by the fan-shaped mosaics of the Baths of Caracalla, translates classical architecture into refined geometry accented with intricate gemstone inlays.

BVLGARI BVLGARI distills the House’s signature into a bold cylindrical silhouette, defined by repetition, symmetry, and hand-intarsia mother of pearl.

The concept of “Carrying Culture” extends beyond design into storytelling. Photographed by Ethan James Green and creatively directed by Ferdinando Verderi, the campaign features five women whose influence reaches beyond fashion: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Linda Evangelista, Kim Ji-won, Isabella Rossellini, and Sumayya Vally. Each embodies one of the Icons, lending her perspective, and lived experience to its symbolism.

In a thoughtful gesture, each minaudière is designed to carry a miniature book authored exclusively for the collection. Shaped to fit inside the bags themselves, the micro-volumes explore themes of tradition, transformation, calm, nature, and belonging. Culture becomes tangible—something to be held, carried, and passed forward.

With the Icons Minaudière Collection, Bulgari offers a modern vision of luxury defined by intention rather than excess. These are not accessories designed to follow trends, but art created to carry meaning, memory, and identity, worn close to the body.

This feature appears in the Winter Issue of VUE Atlanta. Explore the full issue and read more here.