Brody and Bulgari let the good times roll
‘To be honest, I really like a man’s watch on a woman. I like the Finissimo on a girl,’ says actor and Bulgari ambassador Adrien Brody.
TOKYO, Japan — It’s near autumn in Japan and the cool breeze has blown something in: a movie star. Adrien Brody, Oscar winning actor, producer, philanthropist, Bulgari Watches brand ambassador and tall drink of water, is wheeled in on a cocktail cart during the welcoming ceremonies for the Bulgari Tokyo Retrospective and watch display at Bulgari Ginza Tower — a kooky, rockstar entrance coming from an actor held in high esteem by his peers, and representing a premium luxury brand. But, as Brody himself admits, there are more glamorous people to choose from. Brody’s unexpected mode of ingress loosens up the crowd, including those that are surrounded by precious stones and daunted by complications of horological variety for most of their lives.
He arrives in jeans and a leather jacket, wearing a Bulgari Octo Finissimo that his mom hands to him by the stage. They had just come from Nepal to create awareness for Save the Children, which Bulgari has been supporting since 2009. Brody’s work for Bulgari has revolved mostly around charity and starring in campaigns, and before we had met him we wondered why the Italian brand chose him as ambassador. While his talent certainly renders weight, his rugged demeanor seems — at first — opposed to Bulgari’s finesse.
“I travel a lot, so I roll very simply,” he says. Does Bulgari even “roll”? A chat with Bulgari Watches design director Fabrizio Buonamassa reveals that the brand certainly does. Forty years of designing luxury timepieces must mean that they have had to, being a contemporary brand.
“Bulgari is not a common brand, it’s a unique brand that comes from Roma. It’s an Italian brand, so for us, heritage is an important thing. Each watch is unique in terms of design. So it’s not easy to manage the amazing archive. My role is to make a contemporary interpretation of our iconic designs,” says Buonamassa, a former car designer who plucks technology from the automotive industry to apply to watch design, as he did with the Bulgari Magnesium, which he describes as both light and strong. Even Brody’s accessory of the moment, the Bulgari Octo, was inspired by a car. “It’s the latest incarnation of the jumping hour. It’s a unique watch, a different way to read the time. I love this watch because it’s recalling a dashboard,” the design director adds.
What a refreshing thought: Bulgari rolls. Their timepieces have certainly adapted to technology and become more “intelligent.” For example, the recently released Bulgari Diagono Magnesium watch, a deliciously studly man’s watch, is actually, with the right app, an information vault connected to a data shelter in the Swiss Alps that you can slap on your wrist. So James Bond. Meanwhile, their ladies’ lines Diva and Lucea have been designed to fit a woman’s everyday requirements: elegance, luxury and beauty. The brief, Buonamassa says, was to create something mainstream but still distinctly Bulgari — meaning super fancy but dignified and of premium quality, for both ladies’ and men’s watches.
Although he does share that designing for men and women are two very different things. “For the men’s side, you talk about performance. For the ladies’ side, you talk 100 percent about emotions,” he says. We get it: we don’t really buy things because we need them, but because we absolutely have to have them and if we walk away from it and never see it again, it will haunt us for the rest of our lives. The fast-talking Italian man understands.
The market has, however, shown some change in behavior lately. Bulgari’s female clients have been buying men’s watches — the bigger, the more weight, the better. This is something Brody approves of. “To be honest, I really like a man’s watch on a woman. I like the Finissimo on a girl,” Brody says. “I like the Finissimo very much as well. I usually like a more substantial watch, it carries a degree of masculity but it also has the edge, modern and elegant.” And that was the end of the lighter part of the chat with the actor, as he shifted to more serious matters, like his humble beginnings, the influence of his professor father and artist mother, and his efforts, via Bulgari, to save the children.
Every Brody wants to change the world
During his brief trip to Nepal, which he has documented on his eponymous Instagram, Brody was able to do what he always wanted to do and what his parents, long-time advocates of education, have always done. “Both my parents taught me their values and they have tremendous humility. They’re not concerened with many of the trappings that can easily befall an actor of my stature. My father is a teacher and has guided me very well and made me very conscious of the importance of education for young people. My mother is a real artist, the purest of souls. Her motivation is drawn by her artistic passion and I share that with her. I have a love of photography that she has spawned and a love of filmmaking that I learned perhaps even from the womb,” Brody shares.
In Nepal, Brody spent some time with the children who were affected by the devastating earthquake that hit the country last April, representing Bulgari for Save the Children, a non-profit organization that provides shelter for underprivileged minors, focusing heavily on education. “It’s [Bulgari] enabled me to go to Nepal, to allocate funds for a shelter in Queens which was affected by the hurricane — I grew up in Queens. It’s enhanced my life, it’s enhanced my ability to use fame as a tool to help others. I’ve definitely learned more about watches. It’s an honor that a brand with such specific values and such a premium aesthetic chose me to represent them. I come from humble beginnings and this is a luxury group. I’m an actor, someone who has been very conscious about what I do in my work. To strive to be unique, and to have a premium luxury brand to find that uniqueness something that they relate to is a huge compliment. Often what motivates me and what is inspirational to me is not necessarily rewarded by the industry,” he says.
In Septembers of Shiraz, a film about a family torn about and tormented during the fall of the Shah in Iran, Brody played a jeweler. “There was a line in the film referencing that the objective of the jeweler and poet are very similar because they’re both yearning for perfection. I appreciate the goal to create something so specific and iconic. It has to genuinely come from an artistic place. The creation of a Bulgari is a man and his family’s dream. That is what I do as an artist. That is similar to what my responsibility is, in way.”
Clearly, Bulgari picked a dreamer who placed value in time — the good, the bad and the unforeseeable future. His dial may be glitzy and he may have complications of Hollywood proportions, but just like Bulgari, his heritage remains intact. The boy from Queens. “The more you experience, the more time flies. I think it also stems from having much more to do and having much more I want to accomplish. So I’m very cognizant of the fact that there isn’t enough time to do the things I’d like to do. Growing up in Queens sucked, but in retrospect it’s a beautiful thing.”
The man who rolled in riding a cocktail cart has left the building.
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In the Philippines, Bulgari is located at the ground floor of Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati, tel. no. +632 728-5061.
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