Bvlgari

About the house

Sotirios Voulgaris was a silversmith from Paramythia in Epirus, and Bulgari dates its founding to 1884, when a shop opened at Via Sistina 85 in Rome. Sources differ on whether that was his first shop or his second. He married Eleni Baziou in 1888 and they had six children. In 1905 he opened the store on Via Condotti, which became the company's main store; the architect Peter Marino redesigned it, and it reopened in 2014.

The family held on to the business for well over a century. When LVMH took it over, the Bulgari family sold its 50.4 per cent controlling stake in exchange for 3 per cent of LVMH. The company also branched beyond jewellery: Bulgari Hotels & Resorts launched in 2001 as a joint venture with the Ritz-Carlton division of Marriott International.

Perfume came late in that story. One account says Bulgari Parfums was founded in Switzerland in 1993, with Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert as its first fragrance. Jean-Claude Ellena composed it, and sources differ on the year, giving 1992 for its creation and 1993 for its launch. Bois de Jasmin describes the green tea accord behind it as a rejected one, which Bvlgari then took on. Ellena went on to become Hermès's in-house perfumer in 2004.

The tea line kept growing after him. Daniela Andrier composed Eau Parfumée au Thé Bleu in 2015, and the Bois de Jasmin reviewer reads these follow-ups as careful sequels that can make sense aesthetically and artistically. The Thé Bleu review pairs the tea with iris and lavender.