Marina B is the creation of Marina Bulgari, granddaughter of Sottiro Bulgari, founder of the renowend Italian jewelry company.
Marina Bulgari began her illustrious career with the company founded by her grandfather Sottiro Bulgari, where she created several of their enduring best-sellers. She left Bulgari S.p.A. in the late 1970's to found her own independent luxury brand, Marina B. At Marina B, she designed an incredible succession of iconic and legendary jewelry that bears the undeniable mark of her creative process. In the Eighties and Nineties, Marina B was embraced by connoisseurs, international jet setters and celebrities around the world as the epitome of style, elegance, and creativity in luxury jewelry.
Marina was born in Rome on July 12, 1930 to a Greek father and German-Italian mother. Early on, she developed a passion for art, architecture and mathematics. Upon Marina's graduation at Saint Mary's College in England, she returned to Italy where her talents in the family business were immediately recognized. Her keen sense of design, proportion and scale combined with an understanding of engineering and movement was instantly apparent as she made great design contributions to the brand. After the passing of her father, she followed her entrepreneurial mindset and creative spirit and decided to create her own signature brand in 1977: Marina B.
Working tirelessly with the Parisian and Italian workshops that would help develop her unique vision, Marina quickly established herself as one of the most prolific and talented jewelry designers of her generation. Her customers were seduced by the boldness and elegance of her design, and the use of diamonds and colored semi-precious stones, the generous volumes of her creations, her unique juxtaposition of geometric lines and subtle curves.
Marina's creative process was conceptual and precise. A true perfectionist, she lived and breathed her designs, finding inspiration from Greek and Italian mythology, nature and animals, objects d'art and architecture. As only a woman designing for other women could achieve, her jewelry is both supremely elegant, striking, and surprisingly comfortable to wear.
Her first showroom opened in 1978 in Geneva, Place du Molard. The Maison was originally named Crisart, which changed to Marina B in 1979, leaving out the name Bulgari to differentiate her brand and company from her family's. She exhibited in the trendiest spots around the world, such as Monte Carlo, Gstaad, and St. Moritz, and opened several Marina B Boutiques in Milan, Geneva, London, New York and Tokyo.
Through the decades, Marina B's collections were filled with eye-catching designs that mixed classicism and modernity, color and contrast, and bold design elements that had true artistic flare. Her distinctive aesthetic made pieces such as Atomo, Cardan, Pneus, Vertigo, and Ciao immediately iconic in the industry. Her jewelry was worn by scores of celebrities such as actress Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Julia Roberts and Princess Grace, and has been featured in the pages of numerous fashion books.