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“Warm” and “Cold” Tones

In European jewelry traditions, the assembly of multi-colored gems was initially done with great restraint, sometimes with a certain wariness, but by the mid-20th century, Bvlgari took a bold step, breaking the conventions by mixing gemstones that were rarely, if ever, paired together. In the 1950s, the Maison's creative process began with the juxtaposition of precious stones—diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds—placed together in intricate polychrome compositions, with each color holding its own distinct place. Soon after, the yet-called semi-precious stones, such as turquoise, amethyst, citrine, onyx and tourmaline, were also incorporated into these designs.

Bvlgari’s creative process mirrored that of a painter choosing pigments on his palette, where what mattered most was the artistic effect and the final chromatic harmony, rather than the intrinsic value of the individual stones. Upon closer inspection of Bvlgari’s work from the 1960s onwards, it’s clear that many of the Maison's jewels were consciously crafted to embody the chromatic contrasts established by Chevreul in the previous century.

This is particularly evident in the bold gemstone compositions Bvlgari has employed since the 1950s-1960s, where certain “warm” colors, such as red or yellow, are paired with “cool” tones, such as light blue or turquoise.