Review of visiting the BVLGARI exhibition at the Moscow Kremlin Museums
This year, from September 7, 2022 to January 13, 2022, the Moscow Kremlin Museums sparkled with hundreds of diamonds and other precious stones - a luxurious exhibition of the Bvlgari jewelry house was brought to us. We went to see the beauty of Roman jewelry, and what we saw exceeded all expectations.
Getting to the Bvlgari exhibition is very simple - you need to buy a ticket to the Moscow Kremlin Museums for 500 rubles, a visit to two rooms where more than 500 jewelry is displayed is included in the price. A certain number of tickets are allocated per day, there are no sessions, that is, they are valid all day, but, like everything in Moscow, they quickly end. For example, we were able to buy tickets online a few days before the visit. Unfortunately, an electronic ticket to the Kremlin will not save you from queuing at the ticket office, because it must be exchanged for a printed ticket of a strictly standard type, and signed something similar to a voucher. The ticket office is located in the Souvenir Shop located in front of the Kremlin entrance. On a weekday we stood in line for about half an hour, on a weekend, I think we need to budget at least an hour for this procedure.
Opening hours are quite strange: from 10:00 to 17:00, with the ticket office closing half an hour earlier. At the same time, there are a lot of people even on a weekday, since in addition to Muscovites, tourists were lucky to get to the exhibition; we noticed many Europeans.
In general, nothing can be done, where else can such treasures be displayed if not in the Kremlin? There are such stones there that it takes your breath away.
The first part of the Bvlgari exhibition is located in the Assumption Belfry. The very charm of femininity that appears in the title of the exhibition. The first thing that impresses is the design. Interactive walls, pleasant music, screens with descriptions of collections and showcases, above which there is even a “live” ceiling.
The history of the Bvlgari jewelry house began in Rome in 1884. Until now, all that this jewelry house produces are luxury items, desired by every woman. In several rooms we were able to trace how the tastes of women changed with each stage of the development of society.
Here we see jewelry that belonged to such stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Magnani and others.
Elizabeth Taylor had one of the richest Bvlgari collections, which she collected throughout her life. There is a legend that it was the jewelry house store in Rome that became the secluded place that the married actress met with her partner in the film “Cleopatra” - Richard Burton. At an auction in 2011, Bvlgari bought 11 pieces from the movie star's collection.
I was impressed by the 65-carat sapphire sautoir that Burton gave the star for his fortieth birthday. Almost like from the movie "Titanic".
Then we find ourselves in the era of the 70s, an era of change and the search for innovative ideas in clothing and jewelry. Bright, bold colors can perhaps be associated with the influence of eastern countries on the tastes of that time.
Then the chokers caught our attention; even without reading the signs we realized that we were already in the era of the 80-90s.
Voluminous chokers were worn with equally bright earrings; by the 90s, the Bvlgari jewelry house had achieved perfection in working with colored precious stones.
Under the light in the window, the jewelry looks pompous, but in photographs of stars wearing these things, surprisingly, they produce a completely different impression - sophisticated and elegant. This is the talent of jewelers, this is genius!
In this review, I do not have the goal of talking about every collection, every piece of jewelry. Still, this is not a guide to the exhibition, but impressions that I want to leave as a memory, and to interest you in visiting - it’s worth it.
We unanimously agreed that the greatest impression was made by the 1935 tiara with large aquamarines and diamonds framed in platinum.
You should have heard how the girls sighed near her, I barely took Nina away from this display case.
There is also a magical elevator in the belfry (located opposite the entrance, behind general information about the exhibition).
Press the button, go inside and feel the magic of diamonds. Impressive!
We walked around everything twice, after which we went outside to catch our breath. Before the second part of the exhibition, which is located in the Patriarchal Palace, we walked along the observation deck. Despite the last days of October, autumn still makes us happy and allows us to take beautiful photographs.
The second part does not fade at all after the first, quite the opposite. Here you will see the most iconic collections created by the house of Bvlgari: Serpenti, Monete, BVLGARI BVLGARI, Parentesi and the famous modular jewelry.
Here I was more impressed by the Monete collection - a variety of jewelry with ancient Roman coins, coins of Alexander the Great, medieval European ones, etc.
The famous Bvlgari snakes occupy the entire room.
Bvlgari watches are now a dream, a dream.
I sincerely recommend going to this exhibition, because when will you ever see so much beauty in one place? Still, Moscow is the best city!
How to get there Metro “Alexandrovsky Sad”, and then you won’t miss it. Just don’t forget to buy a ticket online to be guaranteed access to the Kremlin: https://bulgari.kreml.ru/. You can set aside at least a whole day for this event, since with one ticket you can also visit the Kremlin temple, but entrance to the Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund costs a fee (tickets in limited quantities).
The main event of autumn
This autumn has a name - Bulgari. A retrospective show is being held in the Kremlin, hosted by this famous Italian jewelry house. Italian jewelers provided more than 500 pieces of jewelry, most of them being exported from the country for the first time.
Fans of exclusive jewelry will be able to admire the wedding tiara that Infanta Beatrice of Spain wore on her wedding day. A separate stand at the exhibition is dedicated to jewelry that belonged to the beautiful actress Anna Magnani. Bulgari acquired them from the heirs just a couple of months ago.
Bulgari
A special exhibition is dedicated to jewelry created by Sotorio Bulgari. It was he who stood at the head of the brand. These products were created at the end of the nineteenth century. Their features are gilded silver and the use of colored rhinestones as decoration. It is very noticeable how the concept of jewelry has changed over the years. In the 30s of the twentieth century, jewelry craftsmen of this brand were already working with platinum and precious stones: rubies, emeralds. Bulgari's trademark distinctive features - bright colors and unusual geometry of shapes - have not yet appeared. Almost all products from that period are made in the Art Deco style. They reflected the beauty ideals of French jewelers: clear geometric shapes, large diamonds and platinum. Colored stones were rarely used. The main exhibit of this section is the already mentioned wedding tiara, made to order for the Spanish infanta.
