Bulgari – A Roman Empire

Richard Burton once said of Elizabeth Taylor, “I taught Liz about beer, she taught me about Bulgari.”

When I was invited to attend the 125th anniversary celebration for the luxury house Bulgari, I immediately thought – what a great excuse to go to Rome! Then, I started looking into the rich history of the company and realized this could be a great story, too. Nothing like mixing a little business with a lot of pleasure!

Shooting the story was fun but grueling. Rome was in the middle of a heat wave – it was 90 degrees! So hot, we stopped shooting at one point so that Nicola Bulgari – Vice Chairman of the company and my escort for the day – could treat us to iced coffees – the Italian version is delicious!

After shooting a half-day in Rome, we drove two hours to the Bulgari’s home in Tuscany. Right out of a movie set. After a casual lunch in the garden, we sat down for the interview. Among the many stories Mr. Bulgari told me – Imelda Marcos used to call him in the middle of the night to have jewels delivered to her hotel room in New York. How’s that for obsession?