The store’s opening this month also kicks off the brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations leading into 2026. Guy Bedarida shares more:
How do you honor Marina Bulgari’s legacy while appealing to today’s woman? And are you engaging younger clients through specific styles?
We’re delighted to see that the same qualities that captivated Marina B’s original collectors continue to resonate with a new generation of passionate fans. Our new designs maintain the cleanliness of line, the drama of form, and the boldness in color that has always drawn women of passion and spirit to Marina B, while introducing a certain delicacy and quality of stackability that the clients of the 21st century rush to embrace. Our Trisolina line, especially, with its slender form and plethora of color options, is often chosen as a client’s first piece of Marina B.
What does Marina B’s return to New York and the new Madison Avenue boutique mean for you and the brand’s future?
This debut marks a homecoming for me as well as Marina B. I have very fond memories of designing for the New York branch of Van Cleef & Arpels, and of creating bespoke pieces for beloved clients here. The imagination of the American woman is limitless, daring, and I am delighted that we are back on Madison Avenue, ready to make her dreams come true. Marina B’s return is a triumph, an announcement that timidity has no place in jewelry.
What drew you to Marina B as the brand to take ownership of and reimagine?
Well, of course, Marina B is an Italian company, and as an Italian myself, there was a natural affinity. But it is really Marina B’s legacy of high jewelry, of glamour, of color that makes it the jewel I had to have for myself. The history of technical excellence married to the most daring and exuberant designs, designs that are a pleasure not only to see, but also to wear, and that were worn by all the most interesting and glamorous women of their day, this is a story that I am eager to continue.
How does Marina Bulgari’s legacy of designing for independent women influence your creative approach today?
The reason our jewelry remains sought after by women purchasing for themselves is very simple. Our pieces are always designed with the strength and the joy of women in mind. Our bracelets and necklaces, by virtue of the springs at their core, embrace the woman like a suit of armor or a lover’s caress. The transformable earrings, reversible sautoirs, each brooch with its own little surprise — every Marina B jewel is a source of delight each time it is taken out of the jewelry box.
How do you balance heritage and reinvention when designing across decades of Marina B’s history?
The fundamentals of jewelry are eternal. Color. Dazzle. Glamor. There is an ouroboros of inspiration, never-ending, that leads from our archival pieces to new designs, back to re-editions of our iconic jewels. The form of an iconic earring is echoed in the design of a new bracelet, a never-before-seen gemstone is incorporated into a piece we have produced since 1978, and so on. As a company, we have always embraced cutting-edge techniques and unexpected appearances; embracing the new is an essential part of our tradition.
How central are custom design and one-on-one client experiences to Marina B’s identity today?
Vitally central. Marina B has, throughout its history, decorated the world’s most important women in social, artistic, and royal spheres, they are our friends and muses. It is our pleasure and privilege to work with them on the creation of jewels unique to themselves, and it is our luck to be able to take the insights they share with us and apply them to our pret-a-porter collections. It is our goal that every piece of Marina B should feel so perfect, so personal, so natural, that it seems as if it was created for the woman who wears it.
What’s next for Marina B — in terms of new markets, collections, or design directions?
The relentless pursuit of innovation, the solution of insoluble design problems, has always and will continue to be core to the mission of Marina B, as has changing how and where, and why women wear their jewels. Lately, we have been exploring novel uses of titanium, the lightest and strongest of noble metals, as well as introducing more and more color into our core offerings. We have also noticed that bold rings for every day are much sought-after by our clients, and we will be expanding our already substantial offerings in that genre. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we are finalizing a men’s collection that will bring all the drama and strength Marina B has always offered to its lady clients to an entirely new audience.
