Saint-Tropez, the diamond of the French Riviera, shone brightly this week, as Bulgari invited Juliette Binoche, Hilary Swank, Jeremy Irons, Isabella Ferrari, and Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, among others, down for two days of sea, sun, and celebration. The occasion was the unveiling of the jeweler’s new boutique in the resort town, the opening of which kicked off the forty-eight-hour fete on Tuesday night.
Irons, who played a jewel thief with a penchant for Bulgari in Claude Lelouch’s And Now…Ladies and Gentlemen…, mingled with the crowd and even posed for a picture with a local chien. “I love to buy jewelry for other people, to pick out something that I think someone would love,” said the actor, whose hands donned a simple pinkie ring that was his father’s, and paint stains from repairing his boat in Ireland. Meanwhile, Swank offered that, for her, the Saint-Tropez scene evoked images of Picasso.
Set on a prime corner of the Place de la Garonne, the intimate two-floor Mediterranean cottage-style boutique is warm and glamorous. Vintage touches—like historic advertising campaigns from the seventies and fifties-era Verner Panton cone chairs—make the in-store experience all the more special, and sand-toned walls, a terrazzo floor in blue sodalite, and silk panels evoking the iridescent azure of the Saint-Tropez sea are decidedly decadent. The space is rounded out with a nod to history—in the entrance, a blue star engraved in the floor echoes the black onyx star of the legendary Bulgari flagship in Rome, which opened in 1905.
Long the jeweler of choice for the beau monde of the cinema, Bulgari also launched its Diva collection, a tribute to the most dazzling celebrities of the fifties and sixties. The range boasted a stunning selection of high jewelry pieces in shimmering diamonds and colorful precious stones, like a 43-carat cushion sapphire.
After visiting the boutique, guests headed to an exclusive dinner in the private garden of the Pan Deï Palais hotel, where they tapped their toes to bossa nova beats by Bebel Gilberto.
On day two, some made their way to a private yacht cruise, while others, like Gilberto, played it cool by the pool alongside Irons. Before jetting home, everyone rendezvoused at Le Club 55—the same spot featured in the 1956 Brigitte Bardot film …And God Created Woman—where a festive lunch was waiting for them. We couldn’t have written a more divine ending.
