Included as part of the exhibitions at the third annual Abu Dhabi Art fair at Saadiyat Island were some real jewels: 27 stunning pieces, many of them vintage, all intricate and distinctly Bulgari.
Twenty security guards were brought along to guard the collection, which provided the public with a rare glimpse into a range of pricey pieces from select decades of the Italian jeweller's 127-year history.
"As a platform for modern and contemporary art and design, Abu Dhabi Art is the perfect occasion to share the impactful creativity of our high jewellery pieces," says Nicola Bulgari, the grandson of the founder. "They have been designed and executed to convey a sense of perfect, unquestionable and timeless beauty, like a work of art."
In cases designed by the celebrated Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the rare collection offered bracelets, chokers and minaudières (small decorative cases). Hadid drew inspiration from the craftsmanship of signature pieces by Bulgari, which was established by the Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari in Rome at the end of the 19th century. The select pieces are the best representation of the master jeweller's work from 1920 to the modern day, says Giampaolo Della Croce, Bulgari's high jewellery senior marketing director.
"We tried to pick the most significant jewels to share the brand's heritage," he says.
"There's a blend of colourful gems like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and aquamarines. And of course, since they are a girl's best friend, we have jewels set with diamonds, too. We also have porcelain - a lovely bracelet part of our Chandra collection, which was crafted at the beginning of the 1990s."
From the 1920s and 1930s, Croce points to Bulgari's eastern-inspired brooches as the exhibition's standout pieces. It was also during this period that the company first became known for its use of vibrant coloured gemstones and love of imposing geometric motifs in diamonds and precious stones. Growing in equal popularity around the same time were its convertible jewels, including necklaces that could be separated into different, usable parts including clips and bracelets.
Bowing to the constraints of the Second World War, Bulgari paired down its use of precious materials such as platinum and diamonds, using gold and favouring more natural designs than previously seen.
"Then in the 1950s, we used a lot of cabochon [polished but not faceted] cut gems," says Della Croce. "Also, 'the snake' came from the second half of the 1950s. This was something that fascinated Liz Taylor, who bought a lot of Serpenti bracelets and watches."
As seen in Abu Dhabi, Bulgari fashioned the sinuous body of the serpent into many timeless creations, from rings to wraparound bracelets. It was also the first jeweller to adapt the snake into a wristwatch, which became one of its signature pieces.
"In the 1970s there was the use of coins," says Della Croce.
The tradition dates back to the late Roman era and remained in fashion until the 7th century AD, before re-emerging in the 19th century.
Pieces in the capital's exhibition from the 1980s truly represent a Bulgari style that the late pop artist Andy Warhol famously once told Nicola Bulgari everyone was "trying to copy". Precious stones are combined with ones of lesser value to form elegant, decorative, often modular pieces - a secret to their "wearability", according to the jewellery house.
In the 1990s, Bulgari's style became far less structured and gold continued to be the metal of preference.
"From then we also have beautiful rainbow-coloured tourmaline gems on a sumptuous necklace with heart-shaped gems," says Della Croce.
And bringing the story up to date is the exhibition's pièce de résistance, representing the jewellery makers' savoir faire and ease of mixing the classic with contemporary design:
"The new millennia tiara is an icon of all these important dates," says Della Croce. "The pieces are all one-of-a-kind and, if we want to give a price, I would say the most expensive is the tiara from 2000 because of the two huge diamonds dangling from the top - 20 carats each. It's a masterpiece and a treasure of nature with those diamonds."
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
RACECARD
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Feeding the thousands for iftar
Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth
Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people
The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box
350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley
Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic
Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km
Price: Dh235,000
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sean%20Durkin%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zac%20Efron%2C%20Jeremy%20Allen%20White%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20Maura%20Tierney%2C%20Holt%20McCallany%2C%20Lily%20James%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RACE CARD
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Scores
Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace
Saturday fixtures:
Chelsea v Manchester City, 9.30pm (UAE)
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm (UAE)
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
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