This year, Bvlgari is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Icon of the Icons, B.zero1. During a memorable trip to Rome, Azyaamode got the opportunity to meet the high jewelry house’s CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin in order to discover more about the history of this collection and its place in the jewelry world.
What is the idea behind this celebration?
This is an event and a celebration that we have been expecting for a while because B.zero1 is one of the brand’s key icons. Therefore, this is an opportunity to bring together many people to share our joy of celebrating not only the icon, but also the philosophy of contemporary art and the inspiration that lie behind this collection. B.zero1 is a monument that is old and very futuristic at the same time. And ever since it was born, architecture has been the driving force behind it, to the point that the last evolution has been designed by Zaha Hadid and is obviously reminiscent of a very fluid style of modern architecture. So, we started this journey by finding inspiration in the Colosseum that dates back to 2000 years ago and evolved into a more modern architecture. And one does not cancel the other one because this is what history is all about.
Tell us a little bit about the B.zero1 novelties.
The new pieces are made of white and rose gold, while initially the previous ones were crafted in yellow and diamonds. The Tubogas diamond is new. So, more than ever, the initial iconic idea was to bring the colosseum together with the Tubogas symbol, because the pieces feature the Tubogas spring which is the symbol of Bvlgari medium-high jewelry in the 60s and 70s. We have a lot of necklaces with this Tubogas spring technology and we have a lot of bracelet watches as well. Obviously, the evolution in the architectural field doesn’t only lie in our collaboration with the late Zaha Hadid and the fluid style that she brought with the skeleton and the insertion of ceramic into the skeleton, but also in the use of gold and marble – which is further rooted in the Roman history – in many versions of B.zero1. The collection also features necklaces and bracelets.
Did this collection take an unexpected turn?
Yes, it has become – and we have seen throughout the size split – also a line of masculine jewelry. We had never ever positioned it as such, but de facto it is also one of the few pieces of feminine jewelry which are unisex. It is an interesting alternative typically to a wedding band. Now if you think of wedding bands, you can say that they tend to be very similar. I am not saying that it looks like a wedding band, and that’s what makes it more interesting. In fact, most people are using them as such. Therefore, B.zero1 is unisex which is interesting and at the same time, it is often considered as an alternative to the classical wedding band just with a bit more of an architectural design.
If you were to collaborate with someone besides the late Zaha Hadid, who would come to mind?
Well, Zaha Hadid passed away a few months after she designed it, but with her the idea was really to keep alive the architecture of the initial Colosseum. So I would not choose another architect, but I would rather go with a much younger generation. I do not have a name in mind, but with Zaha Hadid – who is very institutional and internationally recognized architect – we had a fantastic design. Perhaps next time, I would choose a much younger talent, maybe much less famous, not before I come up with a very complementary and more different design than what we have today. Today, we basically have 3 versions of B.zero1: the Tubogas – with or without diamonds, the ceramics and the Hadid version.
What is the best-selling one among these designs?
It depends a bit on the region. I think in the Middle East, the Hadid is very popular because it also corresponds to the Middle Eastern landscape when it comes to construction, as the region is very modern and the fluidity of the ring is very reminiscent of many iconic buildings. In Europe, it is more the plain gold and the plain gold with diamond. In China, the combination with ceramic… so each region prefers a different style. Generally speaking we are more in the rose gold, while 20 years back the collection was more about yellow gold. So, there is also a shift. And now, we see some going back to the yellow gold and that is something interesting because people like to break monotony.
Speaking of colors, do you think choices are based on skin tones or on trends?
I think the fact is that a lot of our jewelry is made in yellow gold, so it makes sense to choose the yellow gold if your other pieces of jewelry are yellow already, so you will match yellow with yellow. However, we have some collections now which have no yellow gold yet, which I think will be a trend that will be partly driven by jewelers. It is logical because it is clear that yellow gold remains gold. It is a classic. And if you are to define gold, you are talking about yellow gold.
Is there any other anniversary coming up soon for another pillar?
When it comes to the collection, it is a bit more different. Well in watches, this will be the tenth anniversary of Serpenti – not the secret watch, because the secret watch was born in the 40s – so it will be soon celebrating 10 years. In terms of pure jewelry, the Serpenti is old, but it is not only a matter of anniversary. It is also the anniversary of the launch which is equally important. With B.zero1, we are taking advantage of the 20 year anniversary to introduce a leather line that is very young, easy and immediately recognizable. We also took advantage of that to introduce the sunglasses collection. So we have taken this part of the ring which is very specific, the whisker of the B.zero1 to insert it so that we can add this twist to all our eyewear collection inspired by jewelry symbols. We have the Serpenti with the Diva BB which are the most famous, and now for the first time we have also introduced the B.zero1.
If you were to define luxury today, how do you think it has evolved in the past few years?
I would say the main revolution in jewelry has been the feminine power and the financial autonomy of women who have now the means to buy jewelry. This has on one end enlarged the market, in addition to men gifting women, because thankfully men continue to do so. In fact, the rising power of ladies allows them more and more to buy themselves a piece of jewelry. So, these two things are a bit parallel and cannot be disconnected because women – generally speaking – are more into the pleasure of possession, while men are more into the gifting psychological process, they have the pleasure to see their wife or their fiancée showing off a gift. It is a bit caricatural but this is how it is. Anyone buying for themselves will be much more into the pleasure of possessing, not showing off. And so I think that these two phenomena are connected and initially have led to the evolution of jewelry from what it used to be. But for sure, the feminine power has been the most influential. And B.zero1 is all the more successful as a design, it is more attractive for ladies buying jewelry for themselves than a design that a man would go for, unless he knows very well his wife. B.zero1 has a lot of character, it is very architectural. So it is true that B.zero1 is taking advantage of the rising power of women, being a jewel bought by women for themselves. We have also benefitted from that trend, the rising purchasing power of women and their independence to buy jewelry regardless of the context.
You have been very shy on e-commerce. Is it something that you will work more on?
Maybe we have been careful rather than shy. E-commerce is not only a platform where you can sell a product. It has to perform well and deliver efficiently. But upstream, you need a customer service where you have qualified people multitasking with spreadable knowledge. They need to know a bit about watches, a bit about bags, a bit about rings, a bit about sales. They also need to master several languages. So when you create your platform, you need people who will lead the client in the digital world. We have started quite late because primarily we have built a structure around customer care, which can really then serve and support the platform. So now in 2019, we are on the platform. You do not design e-commerce platforms, but we wanted primarily to make sure that once we are on the platform, there will be people to support you day and night and you will not find yourself without the service. In fact, I believe the jewelry buying process has to remain individual and emotional, because we are selling expensive pieces.
Join us to take a look at the B.zero1 novelties.
Article Written by Mirella Haddad
