Whether sharply angled or gracefully curved, the outlines of modernity signal a purity, one unblemished by gimmicky gesture or fussy decoration. To be modern means, to some degree, baring oneself to the world. Case in point: Bulgari’s new three-ring collar, which evokes the 1980s, a time of exceptional postmodern verve, but also the otherworldly adornment of Cleopatra’s Egypt.
The focus is three monumental, half-round, translucent stones — luscious tourmalines in pomegranate pink and palm green and a clear, Caribbean-blue aquamarine — cut en cabochon, a prehistoric color-enhancing lapidary technique that, despite feeling forever contemporary, actually predates faceted designs. Set on a pink-gold armature made in the house’s signature proto-industrial tubogas style — an unsoldered, flexible spiral inspired by early 20th-century underground gas pipes — the piece has a futuristic brio: the perfect amulet to encircle the neck of a superhero of any era, but especially our own. Price on request.
