Why Lucia Silvestri, the creative director of Bulgari, keeps coming back to India

Being the creative director of Bulgari was the last thing that Lucia Silvestri dreamt of becoming. But if you scroll through her Instagram, you wouldn’t be able to imagine her as anything else. Glimmering colourburst of gemstones line her feed, and shots from her office desk intermingle with global icons, like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Zendaya, wearing her creations. “I never studied gems, and neither did I know my attraction to these shiny pieces of earth. I was set to become a biologist or a nutritionist. Nothing to do with jewellery. But when I first started as an intern, and I met Mr Bulgari, he had a desk full of the most beautiful gemstones. I took one look at them, and I knew immediately that this was my passion. I decided that I needed to follow my heart, and not my rationality. I was so very drawn to these stones, it was magical,” Lucia recalls.

Lucia’s father—the right-hand man of Paolo Bulgari, one of the grandsons of the House’s founder—suggested she take up a summer job at the luxury jewellery house. Lucia started working in the gemological department at Bulgari when she was 18 while studying biology, and she got to do most of what her heart desired as an intern. “Before I knew it, it had been years,” she tells Bazaar India. Even though 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of her tenure as the creative director of the illustrious Italian jewellery house, Lucia has been with Bulgari for more than 40 years now. “When I started off, I knew I had something in me, but Mr Bulgari helped me recognise my talent. Young people need mentors to discover what they are good at and how they can utilise their creativity. I try to be that for others now. As the creative director, the challenges are a little different from my internship days. I work with a team of designers, and I need to trust them, and work with them in unison. But I still begin where I always began—the gems.”

Lucia says the process is quite long “since we have to match each gem’s rarity and value. When I find harmony between the colour, the size, the cut, and the value of the gems, I know it’s time to create a Bulgari piece.” Throughout the process, Lucia is not afraid to make changes, to alter the course of her creations if required. “I may want to add some colours or remove some too. I love the process so much because you never know what the result will be. I like to take my time, and I try to not be afraid of taking a different turn now and then. For me, a piece is never really done, I can always keep on adding to it. Every single piece of jewellery is like a child of ours, but we need to stop at some point and let them take flight into the world.”

Lucia is all about doing justice to the House and its legacy, but she is not one to shy away from offering a piece of what changed her life to a newer generation. “We have our heritage, and our history is very important. Maybe the upcoming generations cannot afford our bigger pieces at the moment, but I am dedicated to creating small but significant designs, like a Viper, Diva’s Dream, or B.zero1. Quality and creativity can come in all sizes, and I have always found joy in sharing our story and legacy with a younger crowd.” During her time, Lucia has also focused on contemporising cultural icons in the world of jewels. “India shares the love for craftsmanship with Bulgari, and it was only natural to collaborate with your culture and create the mangalsutra necklace, and follow it up with something more genderless and minimal like the kada bracelet. People from India have always asked us to create something for them, and this is just the beginning of the wedding of our tradition, and our design.”

Lucia’s love for India goes far beyond these collaborations. She keeps coming back to the country to get inspired. If you are lucky, you can often catch her on her gem-hunting escapades through the country. When I ask what her favourite city for finding gems is, the answer comes without a doubt. “It’s Jaipur! I feel at home when I am in Jaipur. When I land in Jaipur, the first thing I do is drink a big glass of lassi. I love lassi, Indian food and textiles. I am always learning, and gaining when I am here.” When not in India, Lucia is foraging the rest of the world for gems, too. “There is New York, Bangkok, Sri Lanka, but I am very biased towards India. I will always be in awe of what this country, its culture, and its people, have to offer to the world.”

Feature Image: The Oriental Dream Necklace by Bulgari, with 90 carats of rare mandarin garnets found in Zambia, hand-crafted over 1,500 hours

This article originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar India, 2024 May print issue.

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