Goodbye to Marina Bulgari!
Vita Gazette -Marina Bulgari, granddaughter of Sotirios Bulgari, who founded the famous fashion house in 1884, has passed away. The funeral was celebrated in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
Marina Bulgari, known worldwide as the “Queen of Jewels”, passed away at 93. Costantino Bulgari, father of the entrepreneur, was the first son of Sotirios Bulgari, or rather Sotirios Voulgaris, a Greek of Aromanian origin. It was Sotirios who started the family empire. As a silver producer, he left his country to move to Naples, Italy. He opened his first jewellery store in Rome with his then-partner, Demetrio Kremos. It all started from there.
Marina Bulgari followed the path traced by her grandfather. After working for many years within the family business, in 1973, she took over from her father. In 1976, she put aside the family fashion house to dedicate herself to her project, later known as “MarinaB”, a jewellery brand in her name that saw the light in 1977. Jewellery has been loved by celebrities such as Sophia Loren, Marella Agnelli, Ivana Trump, and Jennifer Lopez. Having moved to Monaco in 1993, Marina Bulgari continued to design jewellery until her retirement and remained an icon even after. Guy Bedarida will become MarinaB’s new creative director in 2017.
Her stylistic sign was very original, playing on geometry and colour. This quickly allowed it to establish itself internationally, thanks to opening a series of shops in New York, Milan, Jeddah, Riyadh and London. In 1987, Marina Bulgari introduced the Cardan joint to link spheres of coloured stones together. In 1996, Sheikh Ahmed Fitaihi, owner of a chain of luxury stores in Saudi Arabia, purchased the brand. The collections, which Marina Bulgari continued to design, even after the change of ownership, were enriched with new creative ideas. For example, particular cuts were developed, such as the Marina B Cut, with heart-shaped triangular stones obtained.
The entrepreneur had no children and was widowed by her husband, a neurosurgeon whose name is not known. She loved sailing very much, a sport she was passionate about. Marina Bulgari passed away on the night of February 14th at the age of 93.
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