LVMH Watch Week: Bulgari’s Latest Novelties Prove that “Everything Gold Can Stay”

By the time he wrote the short poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” in 1923, American poet Robert Frost was already a moderately famous. (Fun Fact: Although first published in The Yale Review, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” was later included in the collection New Hampshire, which earned Frost his first of four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.)

Still, it wasn’t until S.E. Hinton published his novel “The Outsiders” in 1967 that “Nothing Gold Can Stay” became practically immortalized. That poem begins:

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
 

Frost ends the sonnet with the line, “Nothing gold can stay,” which, in his mind, was a way to say that no good thing can last forever.

However, Bulgari has decided to prove Mr. Frost wrong with its newly introduced collections featuring what could be considered the element of kings because if Bulgari were a character in “The Outsiders,” it’s pretty clear it would be Ponyboy. After all, at the 2024 edition of LVMH Watch Week in Miami, the brand has certainly opted to “stay gold.”

Nearly a half-century ago, in 1975, Gianni Bulgari had a vision for a timepiece that was then brought to life at the hands of design legend Gérald Genta. Called the Bulgari Bulgari watch and designed with elements of Roman coins in mind, it is still an icon today and recognized as one of the watches for which Genta is most associated.
 

Bulgari opted this year to introduce new Bulgari Bulgari novelties in two colors of 18K gold and two different millimeter case sizes. The 26mm versions will contain quartz movements (no surprise there, really) and will be offered in an 18K rose gold version (ref. 103966) with a silver-colored opaline dial with matte Zapon coating as well as gilded hands and hour markers. Accompanied by a beige alligator strap with a pin buckle, the case and bezel are crafted in 18K rose gold and water-resistant to 30 meters.
 

The same size case will also be available in 18K yellow gold (ref. 103897) with gilded hands and hour markers, but this version has a black oxidized dial with matte black Zapon coating and comes on a black alligator strap with a pin buckle.
 

The 38mm versions (refs. 103968 and 103967) are pretty much the same, the most obvious exceptions being their movements and prices. Whereas the 26mm versions will contain (surprise, surprise) quartz movements and cost €9,100, the 38mm versions will be powered by the self-winding Calibre BVL191 “solotempo” manufacture movement (visible through a display caseback) and cost €14,500.
 

Feminine fabulousness is a core focus on this, the tenth anniversary of the jewelry-inspired Lucea collection by Bulgari, and the maison is celebrating in sparkly style with new, refined novelties that appeal to those who love it when watches tell a story through gemstones and precious metals. And while the new Lucea releases are not crafted entirely in gold, the metal still plays a major part in these novelties.
 

In recognizing that smaller watches are having a moment, both for women and for men, Bulgari introduced two versions of the Lucea in 28mm with quartz, “time-only” movements (with only hours, minutes, and seconds, no date function), mother-of-pearl Intarsio dials, diamond-accented hour markers, and 50 meters of water resistance. One is in stainless steel and rose gold bracelet with a rose gold bezel (ref. 103878); the other is done in all steel (ref. 103877).

The 33mm versions of the newest Lucea watches contain a self-winding movement that powers the watches for up to 42 hours and are available in several options.
 

First, there is the stainless steel and 18K rose gold option. It has a bezel set entirely with round brilliant-cut diamonds and a crown set with a cabochon-cut synthetic sapphire and diamond. This style is accented with a white mother-of-pearl Intarsio dial (ref. 103825; €17,200) and decorated with hour markers set with 12 diamonds.
 

This version is also available with a malachite Intarsio dial (ref. 103731; €19,200), which is quite a popular gemstone for watch dials in today’s space. There is also a 33mm stainless steel and 18K rose gold iteration with the white mother-of-pearl Intarsio dial and all the same tech specs, but this version has a simple rose gold bezel (ref. 103730).
 

Finally, Bulgari is also offering the 33mm Lucea in all steel with either a minty green (ref. 103728) or a white mother-of-pearl Intarsio dial (ref. 103727) featuring simple polished steel bezel and hour markers set with white diamonds. Again, these Lucea models are time-only and equipped with the same self-winding movement in diamond bezel options.
 

For more information, visit Bulgari’s website.

(Photography by Pierre Vogel)