Umberto Macchi: The Bulgari man on what fills his hours

MANILA, Philippines - Umberto Macchi is the Bulgari Group worldwide managing director for sales & marketing on all categories — from watches to jewelry, from perfumes to cosmetics. He is a very busy man. Luxury is his business (which he describes as demanding and “a very strategic one”). He kindly gives The STAR a couple of minutes to tell us about his love of art, cars (especially the ones that “are forward-thinking, that look toward the future”) and, of course that high-end mechanical wonder that the word “wristwatch” cannot begin to describe.

PHILIPPINE STAR: How does an Italian like you define beauty, and how does Bulgari figure into the definition?

UMBERTO MACCHI: Beauty (is something) that will always nourish people’s lives. And whatever product we at Bulgari provide, we always give what’s beautiful. Whether it’s physical, such as a unique object, or whether it’s emotional, such as the feeling you get from our services. It’s the thrill you get, the excitement.

What inspires the people behind Bulgari?

Rings to rule them all: Artist Anish Kapoor’s take on the Bulgari B.zero1 rings

Modern architecture has inspired several of our creations. (We) love modern art and architectural concepts. Also, the company is doing projects with artists. The latest being the one with Anish Kapoor. It has been a very interesting experience. All our creations are designed internally, but from time to time we believe it’s important to look outside. With Anish Kapoor, we decided to do something different. We didn’t ask him to create something from scratch, but rather make his own interpretation of our iconic B.zero1 rings. The objective was very well achieved. That (collection) is, for me, a strong merging of the B.zero1 concept and (Kapoor’s) metal sculptures. It came out like magic.

What was the first Bulgari watch you wore and what make and model are you wearing now?

My first one was a Bulgari-Bulgari — a round watch with the double logo (a vintage model which was a take-off from the watch with the “Bvlgari-Roma” logo). It’s our classic watch. It was daring the moment it was created (since no company dared putting a big double logo on its watches). We like doing unusual yet recognizable things — but not crazy (laughs). The Bulgari-Bulgari was my first. I’ve had many watches since. Now I wear one from the Bulgari Daniel Roth collection with the astronomical moon-face.   

Can you reduce Bulgari’s business philosophy to a sentence or two?

The principle is, we can be successful if we manage to excite our customers. That’s what counts at the end of the day. What we provide to them are not only products but emotions as well. The feeling of excitement, that thrill is provided by the product itself, by the environment where the customers buy our products, and by the communication with our salespersons. It’s the entire world of the brand.