Editor’s Note
This article offers an exclusive look inside Bulgari’s newly expanded ‘Manifattura Bulgari,’ now the world’s largest single-brand jewelry production facility. We explore how this space harmonizes traditional craftsmanship with advanced technology and sustainable practices, defining a new future for luxury manufacturing.
On April 16 (local time), the Italian luxury brand Bulgari unveiled and reopened its super-sized jewelry production facility, ‘Manifattura Bulgari,’ which has been expanded to approximately 33,000 square meters. It is the world’s largest jewelry production facility for a single brand. A place where craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology, and sustainability coexist, presenting the future of luxury jewelry. We visited Manifattura Bulgari on the 16th.
Driving about an hour from Milan, Italy, known as the fashion capital, we arrived in Valenza, the city where Manifattura Bulgari is located. Valenza is one of the centers of Italy’s jewelry industry, along with Florence and Vicenza. Located in northern Italy, close to the Swiss and French borders and adjacent to the sea, jewelry manufacturing has developed here since the 1800s. Currently, over 1,300 jewelry companies, including world-renowned luxury jewelry brands, engage in goldsmithing and jewelry manufacturing here. Among them, Bulgari is considered the brand with the largest manufacturing facility.
Founded in Rome in 1884, Bulgari has established a unique position in the global luxury market with its original designs and craftsmanship. Drawing inspiration from ancient Roman architecture and art, bold forms, rich combinations of gemstones, and exquisite craftsmanship have built Bulgari’s worldwide reputation as an icon of Italian artistic life. While it has now diversified its brand portfolio into watches, bags, perfumes, accessories, and hotels beyond jewelry, it has always maintained the ‘Made in Italy’ philosophy of producing all products in its home country.
This philosophy is embodied in Manifattura Bulgari. A large-scale manufacturing facility was needed to handle the entire production process of all jewelry products. Indeed, most of Bulgari’s jewelry, including its iconic collections like B.zero1, Serpenti, and Divas’ Dream, is produced here.
Manifattura Bulgari, which first opened in 2017 with an area of approximately 14,000 square meters, has more than doubled in size with this expansion. The initial single building has grown to three, and the number of employees has increased nearly threefold from 370 at the time of opening to about 1,100 currently. Bulgari plans to hire an additional 500 artisans by 2029, aiming to more than double its production capacity compared to now.
This expansion is part of Bulgari’s vertical integration strategy to internalize the manufacturing process and protect brand value. CEO Babin emphasized this place as “a milestone in Bulgari’s vertical integration strategy, encompassing the entire process from raw material sourcing to final production under one roof.” The increased production capacity allows various processes to be handled in one place. This means gaining the power to consistently maintain and strengthen product quality and brand identity.
The architecture, facilities, and operational methods here are based on the management philosophy of ‘harmony between craftsmanship and sustainable values.’ First, from an environmental perspective, all energy required to operate the facility comes from renewable sources. Half of the consumption is self-supplied through energy produced by over 4,100 solar panels installed on the building’s roof and parking lot, with the remainder covered by renewable energy produced elsewhere. Additionally, operational methods such as a plastic-free policy and a water resource management system have been introduced to minimize environmental impact.
Furthermore, only gold certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council’s chain of custody is used for all jewelry production, which is an industry first. Additionally, on 8,000 square meters of the workshop site, indigenous trees are grown, and beehives for about 1 million honeybees have been installed, aiming to restore and coexist with the local ecosystem.
The massive scale, craftsmanship, integrated know-how with cutting-edge technology, and the surprisingly precise and systematic manufacturing system at Manifattura seemed to present the future of luxury jewelry manufacturing. Among these, what particularly caught the eye was the brand’s first jewelry educational institution newly established here, ‘Scuola Bulgari.’ Open to anyone who wants to learn jewelry manufacturing, this institution is accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education. In collaboration with the Tarì Design School in southern Italy, it offers approximately a one-year course covering traditional goldsmithing techniques to the latest jewelry production technologies. Outstanding graduates are given the opportunity to join the Bulgari group and continue their careers, meaning Bulgari has established a full-fledged artisan training ecosystem through Scuola Bulgari.
Interview | Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari
Talking about the significance of Manifattura Bulgari
Manifattura Bulgari is both a jewelry production facility and an educational facility training new talent. CEO Babin established the ‘Bulgari Jewelry Academy’ for new employees when it opened in 2017. New employees can only participate in the production process after receiving six months of intensive training at the Bulgari Academy. It is a talent training system to raise product quality standards and maintain the brand’s unique style. This year, the jewelry school ‘Scuola Bulgari’ was additionally established, where anyone can enroll to learn goldsmithing and gem setting.