- From: The Australian
- December 01, 2009
The scent of white gardenias filled the hotel's Terrace Room as A-list celebrities mingled around black mirrored tables and white lounges scattered with black and white cushions.
Bulgari vice-chairman Nicola Bulgari, Ben Stiller, Ginnifer Goodwin, Maria Shriver, Rosanna Arquette and Selma Blair were among the crowd invited to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the venerable Italian house on November 19.
The party was the second gathering for the elite jeweller staged in a fortnight, following a cocktail soiree the week before in Miami, at which guests such as Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan and music executive Tommy Mottola sipped champagne and viewed some of the company's creations.
But the two events had a purpose beyond the usual branding and celebrity endorsement opportunities such companies often seek from them.
Both were staged to preview a $5 million collection of the jewellery and watches Bulgari is auctioning in New York next month, with all funds raised from the sale to be donated to Save the Children's Rewrite the Future campaign, dedicated to providing quality education for eight million children living in conflict-affected parts of the world.
"For Bulgari, being part of history and at the same time being able to help change it by giving less fortunate people the possibility of a new future is the best possible way of celebrating its 125 years," says Francesco Trapani, Bulgari Group's chief executive.
The Italian jewellery powerhouse originally announced its support of Rewrite the Future in October last year, donating E1m ($1.6m) towards the cause immediately and pledging an overall goal of E10m to be gathered through a series of fundraising initiatives, including the jewellery auction through Christie's at Rockefeller Plaza next Tuesday.
A silver ring with the Bulgari branding was also created to support the campaign, with a percentage of worldwide sales from each ring going to Rewrite the Future.
Italian photographer Fabrizzio Ferri donated his time to shoot a campaign to promote the initiative, starring Willem Dafoe, Jason Lewis, Ben Stiller and Isabella Rossellini all wearing the ring.
The collection to be auctioned in New York, which was first revealed in May at Bulgari's first retrospective exhibition at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, is the centrepiece of the ambitious plan.
Since then it has toured the world, making pit stops in cities including Shanghai, London, Sydney and Los Angeles on its way to New York, where the jewels and watches will be on display in Bulgari's Fifth Avenue flagship before heading to Christie's.
The auction will feature 11 exclusive jewellery pieces and seven timepieces, some made for the auction and others to celebrate the anniversary.
The most expensive item is a multicoloured sapphire and diamond necklace with a retail value of $US1.05m ($1.14m).
The show stopper comprises 169 sapphires of differing size and colour, totalling 400 carats sprinkled through 951 brilliantly cut diamonds, forming a collar-like necklace with a slightly Egyptian appearance.
Its variety of colour, gems and cuts is emblematic of the Bulgari aesthetic, which is also exemplified by a sapphire and diamond ring designed around a rare cabochon-cut purple star sapphire with a total weight of 60 carats, flanked on by tapered baguette-cut diamonds.
Another highlight is the Lucea, a striking white gold necklace with diamonds totalling 84 carats. Seven rows of circular and square-shaped diamonds end with a fringe of large marquise and circular-cut diamonds in the piece worn by Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen in another of Ferri's campaigns for the house.
Earrings, diamond-studded watches, bracelets and rings make up the remainder of the collection to go under the hammer for Save the Children.
"I am convinced that we will succeed in achieving, and hopefully in exceeding, the ambitious target we have set ourselves," Trapani says.
