It was a chilly April day, but Bulgari was prepared. As cars drew up to its new factory, a squad of men and women in black suits swiftly offered black umbrellas to shield the arrivals from the rain. Their destination: the official opening ceremony of Bulgari's expanded factory, which it calls the largest single-brand jewelry factory in the world.
Now totaling 33,000 square meters, or about 355,000 square feet, the Manifattura Bulgari could house 168 singles tennis courts. But since January, when work began in the new space, it has been the design and production site for Bulgari collections such as B.zero1, Serpenti and Divas' Dream. Only some one-off high jewelry pieces continue to be made in the Rome atelier.
The opening was celebrated with speeches and a ribbon cutting led by Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari's chief executive and the newly named head of LVMH Watches; Toni Belloni, the president of LVMH Italy, a division of Bulgari's parent company, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton; officials from the Italian government; members of the military in full dress uniform; and an archbishop.
The ceremony coincided with the country's promotion of Made in Italy, which this year included the luxury sector among its highlights. Bulgari regularly touts its Italian roots — it was founded in Rome 141 years ago — and in 2017 opened its initial 15,000-square-meter jewelry factory in Valenza, historically the center of the country's goldsmith tradition.
A glassed-in bridge now connects that structure to the expansion space. "We need more capacity," Mr. Babin said over espresso before the ceremony. "The brand developed more than we had planned. Production will more than double by 2029. And by 2029, it will have quadrupled from the opening in 2017."
LVMH does not disclose the revenue of its individual brands, although the group's 2024 annual report noted that Bulgari's Aeterna high jewelry collection, celebrating the house's 140th anniversary, had achieved record-breaking revenue.
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