The London boutique follows, lavishly, in the wake of Peter Marino Architect’s work at the Rome flagship. That project was half restoration, but there were rooms at the rear where Marino was able to express his own interpretation of the Bulgari identity as seen through the lens of the Dolce Vita era, when Bulgari basked in the attention of not only Taylor but also Ingrid Bergman, Anita Ekberg, and Ava Gardner. 

Seeking to recapture that exuberant moment, when Italian culture enjoyed global cachet, he incorporated and referenced the design of such modernists as Carlo Scarpa, Angelo Mangiarotti, Osvaldo Borsani, and Franco Albini. An inset eight-pointed star marks the paving at the entry, as in Rome. Otherwise, the white-painted cast-iron facade gives little indication of the extravagance within.

Marino manages to convey a powerful sense of glamour and monumentality despite the relatively compact nature of the interior, 4,000 square feet on two levels. Nor has a lack of formal symmetry stopped him from imbuing the ground level’s four interlinked spaces with a sense of classicism, achieved through an abundance of noble features, ancient materials, and geometric patterns in contrasting palettes to demarcate different zones.

For example, the main jewelry salon’s white floor mosaic of Thassos marble and glass tile gives way to honey-toned walnut parquet in the adjoining room for ladies’ watches and bridal jewelry. Next door, in a smaller room for men’s watches, walls in a sage green embossed suede evoke an English gentlemen’s club. VIP rooms are awash in amber-toned faux marble finishes and apricot-colored silk velvet. In the events space, custom upholstery and curtain patterns recall costumes Taylor wore in her films.