Exclusive report from Jaipur, India: Bulgari’s gem of a fragrance

India, where women in colorful saris cluster like hothouse flowers, turbaned men tend opulent palaces where maharajahs once ruled, and sacred cows and elephants cross the road with equal impunity, has long been a source of mystery and majesty for the Western world.

The country’s sensorial riches, including its status in the jewelry world as a source of colored gemstones, was a sure draw for Italian jewelry company Bulgari, which created its latest Omnia fragrance around a jewel found only in the Indian subcontinent: the mandarin garnet.

“Bulgari being a jeweler, everything starts from a gem,” says Sabina Belli, Bulgari’s brand and communications managing director. “We had an amazing garnet in our portfolio of beautiful stones and wanted to create something very special around it.”

Once again Bulgari called on master perfumer Alberto Morillas of Firmenich, who’s authored such classics as Calvin Klein’s CK One, Estee Lauder’s Pleasures and Kenzo Flower.

In 2003 the Spanish nose created the original Omnia, a lush oriental worked around Indian masala chai tea. After Omnia evolved into a fragrance line inspired by precious materials like crystal, amethyst, coral and green jade, it seems fitting that Bulgari has circled back to India once more with Omnia Indian Garnet.

“India is like magic for stones, for sure, and particularly here in Jaipur, which is a land of jewelers,” notes Belli. “The heritage of the brand is very close in terms of colors, femininity, and gemstones.”

Morillas says what ignited his creative spark was a one-of-a-kind Bulgari necklace called “Capriccio a Portofino,” on which mandarin garnets are carved like leaves; another was the multifaceted nature of the stone itself and the way it reflects light. Though predominantly orange, it can shade to pink, yellow, even red.

“I compare the colors to the Indian saris because when they move they have this reflection,” Morillas says.

So what does an Indian garnet smell like?

Sparklingly fresh and sophisticated, as it turns out, and very far from the cloying orientals that typically characterize “Indian scents.”

Morillas urged us to smell the perfume before we even started the conversation. His companion, who introduced himself simply as “Julien,” sprayed the fragrance on paper blotters for us to sniff. (Julien, I later found out, was Julien Firmenich, scion of the Swiss fragrance and flavor company).

“It’s fresh, it’s blooming, you have the first impression of this country: tuberose from India,” Morillas said. “Also, it’s mysterious, with saffron from Iran, Sicilian mandarin from Italy, and osmanthus from China.”

If the word “saffron” has gotten your spice alert up, rest easy. “If you add a little bit too much, it’s too obvious,” Morillas says. “In this you don’t smell the saffron, you just have the emotion in the background.”

The perfumer, who handwrites all his formulas because he finds computers “too mechanical,” also wanted to add sandalwood, another ingredient traditionally identified with India, but the precious wood is endangered so he created a sandalwood effect instead with the woody oil cypriol. Consequently Omnia Indian Garnet is no clichéd spice market but something altogether more nuanced: clear and transparent up top but complex below, like looking into the depths of a precious stone.

“Bulgari perfumes change on your skin,” Morillas says. “It’s your perfume when you wear it because it comes to life on your skin.”

Romancing the stones

“Omnia is Alberto’s story,” declares Valeria Manini, Bulgari’s perfume business unit managing director. “I call him ‘Father Omnia’ because he’s the father of all the Omnia scents. Among the perfumers he’s the most sensitive to women. You cannot understand how quick and sensitive he is in understanding the lady in front of him, who she is and what she’ll love.”

Morillas’ sensitivity plus the inherent romance of fragrances inspired by gems could account for the popularity of the Omnia collection. According to Manini it’s Bulgari’s bestselling fragrance line worldwide: “In 2014 we will reach 150 million euros wholesale with franchise, which makes us the top 15th franchise collection in the world.”

In the beginning it was difficult for Bulgari to crystallize the Omnia concept, when the initial offering was a tea scent in a strangely shaped bottle. But customers were drawn to the bottle precisely because of its strangeness, and before long Japan put in an order for its very own Omnia.

“We asked them, ‘How do you want it?’” Manini recalls.

“Pure as crystal,” came the reply, and Omnia Crystalline, a sheer, airy floral composition, was born.

After that Italy wanted theirs, and Manini, Morillas and company found themselves traveling — from country to country, and stone to stone. “We started to understand that there was a kind of collection spirit there, but also it was an excuse to travel the world, and it’s a never-ending story, because there are as many gems as countries you can explore.”

Within the Omnia line Crystalline is currently the top seller “because it suits a lot of countries,” Manini says.  “Korea is a fan of Améthyste, Coral in Malaysia, this one I’m sure in India and countries like the Philippines, where women are less shy.”

Orange perfume in the Pink City

Bulgari launched Omnia Indian Garnet in grand style in the capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur, known as the Pink City due to the pinkish hue of historic buildings like the Hawa Mahal palace.

Cocktails the first night were held at Jaigarh Fort, a complex of buildings that Bulgari illuminated in the orange, pink and red of the mandarin garnet. A fashion show featuring Bulgari’s latest jewelry collection illustrated the company’s ethos of creating classics with a twist.

“What defines Bulgari style is a magnificent stone in an extremely unique and a bit paradoxical design,” muses Belli. She describes archival pieces from the ’70s and early ’80s: one a 60-carat rectangular sapphire mounted on a steel tubogas choker, another a cascade of sapphire cabochons, rubelite and diamonds hanging from a simple rope.

“That is the typical boldness and audacity of Bulgari, because no one would dare combine such precious stones with such — dare I say — ‘poor’ materials,” she continues. “It’s traditional and classic savoir faire with bold and a bit transgressive creativity.”

A red-carpet gala celebrating the perfume was held the following night at Jaipur’s City Palace, attended by Indian royals Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur, Maharaj Narendra Singh and Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of the Bulgari Group.

Bulgari staged a spectacle worthy of India’s Mughal past, with a parade of elephants and musicians, dancers twirling in jeweled headdresses, and Bollywood boys teaching guests the latest dance moves.

Gamely dancing with them were Morillas and Lithuanian model Edita Vilkeviciute, the face of the Omnia Indian Garnet campaign.

Manini says they chose Edita because she embodies the warm sensuality and sophistication of the fragrance. “We wanted to capture a moment of the day of a woman, the feeling of being in Jaipur when the sun goes down. Very often here you have this orange sky, that’s why the garnet reminds you very much of India. It’s also a moment when a woman gets ready and makes herself beautiful for the night. It’s about simplicity, warmth, color, sensuality and being very sophisticated, and she has this character.”

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Bulgari Omnia Indian Garnet is available at leading department stores Rustan’s, the SM Store, Robinsons and Landmark.