We took a close look at The History & Present Of High Jewelry & Fine Watchmaking For Ladies By Bulgari, where we discovered some of the most important creations of the brand, both in the fields of jewelry and ladies' watches. Today, the subject of our focus will be an unmistakably Bulgari creation, the timeless and ever-vicious snake, as represented by the Bulgari Serpenti.
我们仔细研究了宝格丽珠宝首饰和精美手表的历史和现状，在珠宝和女士的手表领域，我们发现了这个品牌的一些最重要的产品。今天，我们关注的焦点将是一个明显的宝格丽创造——永恒的蛇。
First, the basics: why Serpenti? Coiling through human history, the symbolism of the seductive serpent dates back to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. A motif representing wisdom, vitality, and the circle of life, the snake has charmed exotic beauties from Cleopatra to the Bulgari woman, and empowered them with its magnetism. Renowned for the ability to hypnotize its prey - this skill is attributed to no other animal – the snake is also famous for its means of seduction. With a hypnotic brilliance of color and a lithe wearability, the Serpenti woman embodies a sensual elegance: she is the modern-day queen of the Nile.
首先讲最基本的一个问题：为什么是蛇？在人类历史上，盘绕、魅惑的蛇的象征意义可以追溯到古希腊和罗马神话。这条蛇象征着智慧、活力和生命的轮回，以其诱捕猎物的能力而闻名，这一技能被认为是其他动物所不具备的。拥有一种催眠般的色彩和一种轻盈的可穿戴性，蛇女化身为优雅的当代尼罗河女王。
In the 1940s, wristwatches assumed the form of the sinuous snake in a reinterpretation of jewelry traditions dating to Hellenistic and Roman times. As such, the first Bulgari Serpenti models featured a flexible body of gleaming yellow gold, head and tail set with brilliant diamonds. The precious snakes to follow featured scales of gemstones or polychrome enamel, others were coiled with the supple Tubogas technique, a Bulgari hallmark.
在20世纪40年代，腕表重新诠释希腊和罗马时代的珠宝传统，呈现出蜿蜒曲折的蛇形。就这样，第一个宝格丽蛇的模型诞生，展示了一个柔韧的身体，闪闪发光的金黄色，头和尾镶有明亮的钻石。这些珍贵的蛇以宝石或多色珐琅的鳞片为特征，另一些则被柔韧的管状气体技术所缠绕，这是宝格丽的标志。
Over the decades, the Bulgari Serpenti collection has seen more than numerous but equally creative iterations, as the snake motif has moved on from simple bracelets to two- and multiple-row timepieces curling around the wrist and the neck, all the way to other items, playing the small but vitally important role of the finishing and defining touch on Bulgari rings, bags, sunglasses, and other accessories.
几十年来，宝格丽Serpenti集合了众多但同样极富创造性的迭代，当蛇的图案已经从简单的手镯到两个，再到多行钟表卷曲在手腕和脖子上，再到所有其他物品：宝格丽戒指、包、太阳镜和其他配件等，所有小的配件都有极其重要的意义。
Given this prominent role, and the elevated noticeability of Bulgari Serpenti jewelry and watches, all pieces, regardless of their function, have to mix tasteful and vivid colors with complicated manufacturing techniques, the most renowned and closely linked to Bulgari being the Tubogas technique.
考虑到这一突出的作用，以及宝格丽蛇的珠宝和手表的高知名度，所有的作品，无论它们的功能如何，都必须将有品位和生动的色彩与复杂的制造技术结合起来，其中最著名的、也与宝格丽的联系最为紧密的便是tubogas技术。
The so-called tubogas (or gas-pipe) technique was developed during the second half of the nineteenth century and used by Bulgari on the first Serpenti watch creations of the 1940s and 1950s. The term “tubogas” was inspired by the distinctive shape of the gas carrier pipes in use from the 1920s onwards. This motif was revived by Bulgari in the 1970s, and employed so effectively in the creation of watches, bracelets, necklaces and rings that it became one of the firm’s trademarks. The Bulgari Tubogas is a flexible band with rounded contours produced without soldering.
所谓的tubogas技术（煤气管技术）是在十九世纪下半叶发展起来的，由宝格丽在上世纪40年代和50年代的第一个蛇头手表上使用。“tubogas”这个词的灵感来源于20世纪20年代以来使用的气体运输船的独特形状。这个主题在1970年代由宝格丽复兴，在手表、手镯、项链和戒指的制作中得到了有效的运用，成为公司的商标之一。宝格丽表带是灵活的带圆形轮廓的表带，没有焊接。
In practice, the result is a shorter or longer bracelet (depending on the piece of jewelry or watch model in question) that is remarkably flexible to allow for comfortable wear – not always a property linked to fine jewelry or watches – while remaining firmly coiled around the wrist, arm, or neck.
在实践中，手镯的制造时间是非常灵活的（取决于件首饰或观看模型问题），而且它并不总是一个属性，珠宝首饰或手表都能说得通，可以缠绕在手腕、手臂或颈部。
As Bulgari explains, the realization of a Tubogas band requires hours of specialist work: it involves wrapping two long gold strips with raised edges around a copper or wood core in such a way that the edges then firmly interlock with each other to form a continuous unsoldered piece; the core is then removed or dissolved in acid. The flexibility of these metallic bands is truly remarkable, and has been employed with splendid results. The quest for chromatic effects resulted in the creation of alternating yellow, pink, and white gold strips as well as bracelets that changed color with every coil. In the 1970s, the use of grey steel in combination with yellow gold was also introduced.
对此，宝格丽解释说，一个tubogas的实现需要长时间的专业工作。这些金属带的柔韧性确实非凡，另外对彩色效果的追求产生了交替的黄色、粉色和白色的黄金条，如此才能造出每一个线圈改变颜色的手镯。到了20世纪70年代，宝格丽还引入了灰钢和黄金的结合。
Beyond pure technique, color is another of the most recognizable features of a Bulgari creation – made evident in the sparkling eyes of the Bulgari Serpenti or the splashes of bracelet-color on red-carpet celebrities. Beyond its vast experience, Bulgari is known for its innovation with color, employing gemstones and unusual materials that have literally never been seen before – this results in bold new collections and made-to-order, unique pieces of extremely fine jewelry or watches. Developing this bold and unprecedented style, Bulgari has explored uncommon color combinations of semi-precious and precious stones, and invented the gemstone rainbow.
在纯技术之外，颜色是宝格丽创造的另一个最容易辨认的特征——在宝格丽蛇的闪烁的眼睛里，在红地毯上的名人身上，这是显而易见的。宝格丽以其色彩的创新而闻名，使用的是宝石和从未见过的非同寻常的材料——这就产生了大胆的新藏品和定做的、独特的珠宝或手表。宝格丽开发了这种空前的风格，探索了半宝石和宝石的不同寻常的色彩组合，并发明了宝石彩虹。
The Bulgari Serpenti builds on a vast and extremely rich cultural background through the historical and emblematic significance of the snake: as we noted in our introduction, the serpent is a seductive symbol dating back to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Representing wisdom, vitality, and the circle of life, the serpent has transcended centuries, traditions and cultures to become the emblem of beauty and strength: adorning Aphrodite, the goddess of love; held by Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine; the snake’s power is undeniably linked with humanity.
宝格丽蛇是在一个巨大而极其丰富的文化背景中创造出来的，它的历史和象征意义是蛇：正如在开头中提到的，蛇是一个诱人的符号，可以追溯到古希腊和罗马神话。代表智慧、活力和生命轮回的蛇已经超越了世纪、传统和文化，成为美丽和力量的象征。爱神阿佛洛狄忒、希腊医学之神阿斯克勒庇俄斯，这些都说明蛇的力量不可否认地与人类联系在一起。
伊丽莎白·泰勒戴着她的金宝格丽蛇
The history of civilization is intertwined with this emblem – even Queen Victoria was seduced in the 19th century, preferring a serpent-shaped engagement ring. Perhaps no leader of the world is more closely associated with serpents than Cleopatra, whose royal décor and divine powers revered the sinuous snake. The motif reigns equally as mythical in the current day, evident in a jeweled serpentine history, encapsulated by the Bulgari Serpenti.
甚至维多利亚女王也在19世纪被诱惑，喜欢上了蛇形状的订婚戒指。也许世界上没有哪个领袖比克利奥帕特拉更能与蛇联系在一起，克利奥帕特拉的皇家装饰和神圣的力量都崇敬着这条蜿蜒曲折的蛇。这一主题在当今时代同样是神话，在宝石的蛇形历史中很明显，它是由宝格丽蛇所封装的。
Whether interpreted in a realistic or geometrically abstract manner, the serpent encircles the most iconic Bulgari hallmarks together: a love for color, the juxtaposition of materials, a supple wearability, and innovative artisanal techniques. From rings, through timepieces, to entire collections, from simple everyday accessories all the way to the finest creations in high jewelry, the Bulgari Serpenti is more alive than it has ever been.
无论是以写实的还是几何的抽象方式来解释，蛇都是宝格丽的标志：对颜色的爱、对材料的搭配、柔软的耐磨性以及创新的手工技术。从戒指、手表、到整个集合，从简单的日常配件到最好的作品高珠宝，宝格丽Serpenti比以往任何时候都更有活力。
