If you don’t already have a minaudiere, Bvlgari will make you want one

For a good 15 years since its launch, the Bvlgari Serpenti Forever has been as covetable as a bag can get. Available mainly as a shoulder or top-handle bag, it features a slight trapezoidal silhouette bearing the house’s emblematic snakehead clasp on a fold-down flap.

Trends come and go, but the Serpenti Forever is not bound by fads. While a host of variations in size and handbag styles have been introduced through the years, this hitmaker is still defined by exquisite construction, luscious leathers including a variety of exotic snakeskins, and of course, the 60s-inspired Serpenti closure plated in gold or ruthenium, and adorned with enamel and gemstones.

That bag isn’t a seasonal trend piece; it is a statement precious object made to endure, just like fine jewels. 

Since fashion designer Mary Katrantzou’s 2024 appointment as creative director of leather goods and accessories, Bvlgari’s bag universe has exploded in variety, techniques, and expressions of the house’s iconic motifs.

Now, anybody who appreciates high luxury could carry a Bvlgari purse, even if one isn’t a Serpenti fan. Just walk into any Bvlgari boutique and tell me you don’t feel the urge to sweep the shelves clean. And when you thought you’ve seen all that Katrantzou could do, her new Icons Minaudiere collection drops. And it’s spectacular.

Old-world elegance for the New World

Limited in production, the Bvlgari Icons Minaudiere is a sizeable collection for a bag as niche as the minaudiere. A compact and hard-case accessory, this style of refined evening bags were extremely popular during the 1920s and 30s Art Deco period, and Hollywood’s Golden Age in the 50s and 60s.

Defined by rigid forms, decorative surfaces, and jewel-like construction, a minaudiere is often crafted in metal, crystal, or richly embellished materials. Designed to hold only the essentials for a night out, its role extends beyond utility to lend glamour and drama to an outfit. It is a piece of jewellery that you carry.

In the Icons Minaudiere collection, there are two iterations of each of the Roman house’s five signature motifs: Bvlgari Bvlgari, Serpenti, Divas’ Dream, Monete, and Tubogas. Available in regular or mini dimensions, they are designed to be held in-hand with a removable fine metal chain.

For the first time at Bvlgari, several high jewellery techniques are used in its accessories. Lost wax casting is employed to shape these sculptural objets d’art, alongside enamel painting, gemstone and pave settings, inlays of coloured stones — all accomplished by hand. Crafted with aluminium and/or brass, they are finished in gold and/or palladium.

Every opening is set with a cabochon stone, boasting interiors lined with black Nappa leather and even a mirror in most of the mini versions.

Suffice to say, each creation is a jewellery lover’s fantasy. On the Bvlgari Bvlgari Minaudiere, the intarsia mother-of-pearl inserts dance with light within ancient coinage-inspired inscription. On the bell-shaped Divas’ Dream Minaudiere, the intricate pattern of dark amethyst, light amethyst, tiger eye, mother-of-pearl, dark malachite, and zirconia stones recalls the mosaics of an ancient Roman villa. Its colour combination oozes absolute sophistication.

The beauty of the Serpenti snakehead is not just elevated with engraved scales, but a striped underside and a cobra-inspired chain. The chef’s kiss goes to the Tubogas Minaudiere, which sees the entire gaspipe-inspired serpent, accented with a zirconia-accented head and tail, slithering around an egg-shaped case lined with densely pebbled lizard leather. 

And the design that won my antique-adoring heart: the Monete Minaudiere. Named after the Italian word for coin, the Monete icon takes centre stage here as a large ancient Roman coin re-creation framed by hand-applied enamel and crystal silver-colored zirconia stones. Unfasten it and the flipside of the medallion appears on the inner lid. Applause, everyone, especially since Bvlgari ambassador and Italian actress Isabella Rossellini likes it as much as I do.

Carrying culture

The campaign accompanying the Icons Minaudiere collection is named Carrying Culture — not just a witty pun but a valid proposition: “What can you carry in a handbag so small that a phone cannot fit? You can carry culture.”

That’s where five international female personalities are roped in to serve as “custodians of culture”. Not merely bags, the minaudieres are conceptualised as vessels for knowledge, with each storing a micro-volume of an exclusively published book authored by them — on how they view culture through their own lens.

Acclaimed Nigerian novelist and social activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie contributes her views on the importance of female representation and diversity in Notes on Creating Culture. Former supermodel Linda Evangelista pays tribute to her Italian roots in Notes on Honouring Tradition. Isabella Rossellini shares her thoughts on the sentience of animals in Notes on Listening to Nature.

In Notes on Finding Home, South African architect Sumayya Vally waxes lyrical about the concept of home in today’s world of “hyper-cultures”. On our side of the globe, South Korean actress Kim Ji-won shines a spotlight on self-acceptance and her struggle with perfection in Notes on Cultivating Inner Calm.

What struck me is how refreshingly intimate their stories are. To Icons Minaudiere creator Katrantzou, this concept of carrying culture in one’s bag is “a way of cherishing the wisdom of women”.

She adds, “We are honoured to have five extraordinary women lend their voice to our Icons and, through their lived experience, give new dimension to their symbolism, transforming heritage into a living dialogue. That is the culture that we create, we carry, and share.” 

To me, the very idea of translating such rich and deeply symbolic historical elements into a darling little bejewelled case is attractive enough. It is a surefire conversation-starter that, hopefully, connects one culture lover with another. 

And in a world where the essentials we had to carry are now stored on the mobile phone, a new culture of mini bags has been brewing while upending traditional accessorising conventions. This well-timed showing from Bvlgari looks like a revival of the classic minaudiere could finally be on its way.