Nicola Bulgari and daughter Ginevra pose outside their home in Rome. this page, top left. -The Bulgari flagship store on Via Condotti in Rome, above. -A palette of sapphires. left, was chosen for the necklace in this drawing, rendered at the design center in Rome. - Nicola Bulgarj's home has a collection of impressive contemporary art and vintage pieces. In the corridor, opposite page, two original chairs by Marcel Breuer are stacked with books. A striking geometric motif is created by the carpets: a Berber of palm canes and colored leather stripes; a black-and-white block kilim carpet; and a black-and-white ponyhide model by Andrea Gobbi. An English 19th-century table is in cream lacquer and gold. The Ceylon sapphire is perfectly cut on all sides. Holding it steadily between tweezers, the Roman craftsman, who has plied his trade for more than a decade, gently places it in its setting. It will form part of a glittering necklace by the Italian luxury brand Bulgari. Once known primarily for bracelets made with cabochon rubies, emerald necklaces given to Elizabeth Taylor, and diamonds worn by Sophia Loren, Bulgari has taken its origins in the heady realm known as high jewelry and applied the sensibility to the concept of lifestyle. Along with the company's jewelry, watches, perfumes, and accessories, Bulgari hotels and resorts have come to symbolize the aesthetics of a family-run concern that is more than a century old and now global. Francesco Trapani, nephew of the brothers Paolo and Nicola Bulgari, IS CEO of Bulgari and the architect of its rise. Trapani's voice warms when he speaks of the Antonio Citterio-designed Bulgari hotel in Milan. Entertaining there, he says, is "like bringing someone home" -a really exclusive home, that is, where bedrooms have Frette sheets, furniture by B&B Italia, and bathtubs that look like freestanding sculptures. Nicola Bulgari often stays there when attending the opera. It is no accident that Bulgari has recently opened a lifestyle hotel in Bali, using indigenous materials and architecture that preserves the Italian fusion of comfort, design, and art. For this family, life, art, and business are one and the same. Nowhere is it clearer than in the Roman homes of the firm's owners. Trapani lives off one of the city's most historic streets, in a picturesque area where small jewelers jostle antiques shops. His home, which he shares with his wife, Princess Lorenza de Liechtenstein, is an oasis of calm, a gem in the bustle of Rome. Nicola Bulgari, by contrast, lives in Parioli, farther from the hectic center. His home occupies the ground floor of a building from the 1930S, a monument to Italian Rationalism.
