Description
An exquisite Bulgari Monete necklace with an ancient bronze coin in 18K yellow gold. Bronze ages differently from gold: the centuries cloak it in a deep, dark patina in which the coin’s whole lived history can be read. It is precisely this contrast — ancient metal against the glow of polished gold — that gives the necklace its character. The Roman bronze coin rests within a restrained polished bezel, and beside its quiet, almost museum-like surface the gold rings all the warmer.
The idea of wearing history around one’s neck belongs to Nicola Bulgari. In the Rome of the 1960s, at the height of the house’s fame on Via dei Condotti, the founder’s grandson — a numismatist by vocation — began setting ancient coins in gold as he would precious stones. The Monete collection grew out of that idea and has been faithful to a single principle ever since: the coin is not polished, not levelled, not “improved”. The bezel follows its contour, and every irregularity of the hand-striking stays exactly where it is — this is how the house distinguishes a document of an era from decorative pastiche.
The coin, approximately 25 mm in diameter, is set within a gold bezel; with the bezel it measures approximately 30 mm across. The necklace is assembled on a rolo-link chain: approximately 50 cm in overall length, with a drop of approximately 25 cm. The total weight of the piece is 47.32 g. The necklace is signed Bulgari. Every Monete necklace is unique by its very nature: no two absolutely identical ancient coins exist — the patina of each is inimitable, and the house leaves it exactly as time has written it. No two identical coins — and so no two identical necklaces.
