As record precious metal prices squeeze margins and test consumer spending, fine jewellers are increasingly turning to alternative metals for originality and affordability.
Bvlgari is adding gold-and-steel pieces to a couple of its fine jewellery collections on Tuesday, as the brand revisits a non-precious metal it first used for jewels in the 1970s. The Italian house is unveiling two new B.zero1 designs of steel rings framed by yellow gold on the outer edges, plus a new Bvlgari Tubogas necklace and bracelet featuring steel coils punctuated by yellow gold studs.
Jean-Christophe Babin, chief executive of Bvlgari Group and LVMH Watches, says that as well as tapping into the brand’s history of mixing the metals in jewellery, the launch capitalises on the “proven desirability and attractiveness of gold and steel” in watches. He says gold-and-steel models are the brand’s best-selling Serpenti watches.
The launch comes at a time when many brands are experimenting with non-precious metals in fine jewellery, one driver being price rises for more traditional options. The prices of gold, platinum and silver all reached record highs earlier this year.
Babin says that, like the ceramic pieces that Bvlgari launched into the B.zero1 collection in 2010, the new rings are a “beautiful alternative to the full gold [version] but coming at more attractive prices because there is less gold”. “So it reopens the fine jewellery market to a younger population . . . who cannot necessarily follow the inflation of gold,” he says.
